


Can't Be Impossible

by roseinthebusiness



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Boys Kissing, Canon-Typical Violence, Family Issues, Fluff, Getting Together, Hinata is terrible at flirting, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kissing, M/M, Oikawa's just really impressed with Hinata's Spike, Secret Crush, a little bit of daisuga, awkward cuddling, emotionally manipulative family members, fighting between friends, he doesn't even know if he wants to flirt at this point, his crush is so secret it's a secret to him, like a paragraph and then its gone, slight daisuga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:59:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 48,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4010254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseinthebusiness/pseuds/roseinthebusiness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata smiled. Natsu must be playing. So Hinata adopted the big theatrical voice Natsu loved and yelled, "See here, evil doer! Your time of tormenting young princesses are at an end!"</p>
<p>He grabbed his nearest weapon, which happened to be a broom, and rushed into the kitchen.</p>
<p>"HAVAT THEE! OH UG-" Hinata's battle speech was cut short when he realized Natsu was not playing. Nor was she alone. In fact, standing by their stove in their mother's old apron and looking much too smug was the last person Hinata ever expected to see in his house.</p>
<p>" Oooh? Shrimpy thinks he's a valiant knight, eh?"</p>
<p>"O-O-Oik… Oikawa?"</p>
<p>Hinata wakes up one morning to see the Grand King making himself at home and making pancakes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a silly thing I started to write. It didn't start out as a whole big plot or anything but that's kind of what it's turning out to be. I just woke up one morning and thought what if all of a sudden Oikawa was just in HInata's house. For no reason. Making him pancakes. I was originally going to go a different route with oh yeah hey you don't remember we got married! Surprise! But it's gonna be a little bit longer and a bit more involved than that! However the original idea would have been hilarious! But I like where it's heading right now. I'll post as often as I can because I want to see these guys kiss a lot!!! So we'll see where this goes!! Anyway I hope you guys enjoy this fic I wrote and if you're so inclined please leave a comment! or a kudos!! whatever you're inspired to give!!! <3

Hinata opened his eyes to a beautiful sunny morning. Birds chirped happily outside and from his window he could see their peach tree in the backyard blossom.

Hinata stretched and involuntarily let out a pleased groan when his back cracked. Such a beautiful morning. Perfect for volleyball.

With that thought in mind Hinata quickly jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready, unable to contain his excitement of just how wonderful today was going to be.

He put on a pair of shorts, a thin T-shirt, since the weather man said it was supposed to get hot today, and fished out his gym bag from the closet. He sent a quick text asking if Kageyama would be up for an early morning training session. He was putting a water bottle into his bag not a few seconds later when he got the reply.

_sure dumbass_

Hinata grinned at his phone and finished packing. He trotted down the stairs typing a really witty comeback to Kageyama's text when he stopped. A wonderful aroma of cinnamon and blueberries filled the air.

Hinata's stomach let out a growl. He didn't give the smell a whole lot of thought. Even if his mom hadn't made blueberry pancakes in decades ever since she started working full time and then some. Even if the only other person in the house was three year old Natsu, who was not allowed anywhere near the stove or so help Mama. But Hinata was thinking of none of those things and only thought about how delicious those pancakes smelled and how Kageyama wouldn't really mind if he was a bit late.

He heard Natsu talking and sounding kind of peeved in the kitchen.

"Natsu, are you and Toto fighting again?" Hinata asked. Toto being Natsu's imaginary friend who happened to be the prince of a turtle kingdom and always wore a top hat for whatever reason.

"Oniichan! Make this bad man go away!"

Hinata smiled. Natsu must be playing. So Hinata adopted the big theatrical voice Natsu loved and yelled, "See here, evil doer! Your time of tormenting young princesses are at an end!"

He grabbed his nearest weapon, which happened to be a broom, and rushed into the kitchen.

"HAVAT THEE! OH UG-" Hinata's battle speech was cut short when he realized Natsu was not playing. Nor was she alone. In fact, standing by their stove in their mother's old apron and looking much too smug was the last person Hinata ever expected to see in his house.

" Oooh? Shrimpy thinks he's a valiant knight, eh?"

"O-O-Oik… Oikawa?"

Oikawa just smirked at him and turned back to the stove and flipped over a pancake with a spatula. The griddle let out a quiet hiss.

Hinata balked. He stared at Oikawa, then at Natsu who was quite grumpily eating a pancake with syrup dribbling down her chin. Hinata dropped the broom, picked up a napkin and wiped her face with it, still not quite comprehending what any of this meant.

"U-um… Wh-what exactly are you doing here? W-wanna fight?" Hinata adopted a weak martial arts stance as if in preparation for Oikawa to suddenly lunge at him.

Oikawa snorted. "Of course not. Why on earth would you think that?"

Hinata relaxed his stance but he himself did not relax. Not quite yet.

"Well, what are you doing here? And why is Natsu mad at you?"

"He's saying weird stuff!" Natsu piped in. "And his pancakes are too good! I don't trust him!"

Natsu then fully punctuated her displeasure by ripping a piece of pancake off her fork with her teeth. 

"Now now," Oikawa said in a placating tone which Natsu only took as patronizing. "There's no need for that. I just thought since I'll be staying here, I'd do something to show my gratitude. That's all. Hana-san told me you guys liked pancakes so I decided to make some."

"Don't call our mom by her first name! That's so weird!" Hinata said.

Oikawa turned his saccharine smile toward him and said, "But she said I could. What's so bad about that?"

"Like I said! It's just really weird!"

Oikawa shrugged. "Suit yourself. But have a seat though. My pancakes aren't a breakfast to be missed."

He took his spatula and then flipped the pancake he had been cooking onto a plate. He walked over and placed it on the table right next to Hinata.

"This is… impossible," Hinata muttered. No one else was supposed to hear that but Oikawa picked up on it.

"And yet… here we are," Oikawa said.

Oikawa got a clean glass out of the cabinet and poured him a glass of orange juice while simultaneously asking Natsu if she'd like a refill on hers. She nodded but wouldn't look at him. Oikawa didn't seem bothered by this and just smiled when he handed Hinata his glass.

Hinata didn't know why but he almost dropped the cup. He suddenly felt warm in the face and his hands trembled. What?

Hinata ducked his face and tried to excuse himself with something. He can't remember what it was. But Oikawa wasn't fooled for a second. Instead, he got right up into Hinata's personal space forcing Hinata to look at him.

"Uh-oh, Shrimpy. Don't tell me you've got something of a crush on me?"

Hinata squawked out a denial but Oikawa just took it in stride. He advised Hinata to finish his breakfast before it got cold. Oikawa then turned back to the stove and poured some more batter on the griddle.

Hinata and Natsu shared a look. Oikawa wasn't really doing anything bad so they couldn't really complain. If they did and Mama heard about it, she'd be furious that they were rude to a guest.

Hinata decided to not worry about it now and judging by the way his phone kept buzzing, Kageyama was waiting and getting increasingly impatient.

So Hinata decided to just dig in and worry about the hows and whys later.

Hinata slathered his pancake, which was about the size of his head, in butter and maple syrup. He cut off a piece and shoved it into his mouth. Before he could stop himself he made the loudest yummy sound he'd probably ever made.

He heard a delighted laugh from the kitchen.

"Didn't think my pancakes were that good, Shrimpy."

He soured at the nickname but chewed his food and swallowed which instantly made him feel better.

"Grand King, this is the best pancake I've ever had!"

The next laugh was higher and louder and made Hinata inexplicably pleased with himself. He didn’t know getting Oikawa to laugh would make him feel so happy. He continued to shovel the rest of the pancake into his mouth and chug his orange juice. When he was done, he put his dirty dishes in the sink.

"Going somewhere?" Oikawa asked.

"Yep! Kageyama and I are playing volleyball!" And shit. Maybe Hinata shouldn't have mentioned Kageyama. Suddenly something had shifted in Oikawa. He still had on the same smile. He still looked completely relaxed. But something (maybe his eyes?) gave him this hardened edge that wasn't there before.

"Oh, Tobio-chan, huh?"

"Y-yeah. Um, I thought Mama was going to be here. But I guess she got called into work?"

At Oikawa's nod, Hinata continued, "Then, do you mind watching Natsu? If not that's fine. I'll just take her with m-"

"I'll watch her." Oikawa didn't look up as he flipped over the pancake.

"O-oh. Great. Thank you."

Oikawa gave him… a smile. Not like his other ones though. This one was different. It seemed off, less perfect than his other smiles. His other smiles were too perfect, like he’d spent hours in front of the mirror practicing. This smile was crooked, his eyes scrunched up too much. And it made Hinata's stomach do weird things. Which probably wasn't for the best since he had just eaten.

"You're welcome, Shrimpy."

"Oniiiiiiiicchhhhhaaaaannnn!!"

Hinata jumped and looked over at Natsu who had her little arms crossed over her chest and glaring daggers at the two of them.

"What is it, Natsu?" Hinata asked.

"Don't leave me alone with that guy! He's a bad guy!"

"Natsu! That's not nice! He's kind of weird and mean sometimes but he's not a bad guy."

He heard a quiet and offended "hey" from Oikawa.

"But he is bad!"

Hinata turned toward Oikawa. "What did you do?"

Oikawa looked affronted and said, "I literally did nothing except make pancakes and told her her hair clip was cute."

Hinata turns back to Natsu and asks, "Is that true?"

Natsu was still glaring daggers at Oikawa when she nodded.

"Well, why are you saying all that stuff when he didn't do anything?"

Natsu turned her head away and refused to look at either of them. "But he did do something!"

"What? What could I have possibly done?"

Hinata knew it was bad but he kind of found it funny (not cute) how upset Oikawa was getting about this. To anyone who has never met the guy, he just seemed a bit annoyed. But that was the most upset Hinata had ever seen him. 

He saw a golden opportunity and he took it.

Hinata covered his mouth to hide his grin as he said, "Why are you getting all worked up, Grand King? What? You can't have one girl think you're not amazing? Wow, how lame." 

Okay, now Hinata can safely say that he's never seen Oikawa that angry. Oh, Oikawa was smiling but his eyes and body language held murderous intent and Hinata was about to flee for his life when he heard Natsu call out.

"No! Stop!"

Natsu had gotten between Hinata and Oikawa and had her arms spread out as if she were a wall protecting Hinata.

"You aren't going to make Oniichan cry again!"

Oikawa's previously livid expression just melted into one of mild surprise.

"Cry? When did I do that?"

It took Hinata a minute but then remembered what incident Natsu must have been talking about. He felt the tips of his ears go hot and said, "You didn't! Nope! Not ever! Natsu, what a fanciful imagination you have! And you know what, Oikawa? You don't have to watch Natsu today. You already made us breakfast which was really great of you! I'll take Natsu with me then. Okay, let's go. Bye, Grand King!"

Hinata grabbed Natsu by the hand and dashed toward the front door. "Hey, I'll get your shoes and how about you bring some coloring books along, kay?"

"Okay!"

Natsu skipped away to find her crayons and coloring books, happier now that she gets to spend the day with her big brother instead of the bad guy!

Hinata hurriedly put on his shoes and didn't notice someone standing behind him until there was a plastic wrap covered plate with a pancake on it right next to his face.

Hinata looked up to see Oikawa grinning down at him.

"Here, you and Natsu-chan can split it later. Or give it to Tobio-chan. I'm sure he hasn't eaten breakfast this morning."

"O-okay."

Oikawa just smiled and it held more of the whatever it was that made Hinata's heart beat faster.

Natsu came back soon enough with her little sunflower tote bag filled with books and crayons. Hinata handed her her little pink shoes and waited as she put them on.

"Okay, ready, Natsu?" Hinata asked after she was done.

She nodded.

"Alright then. Bye, Oikawa!"

Oikawa smiled and waved. "Take care~" he sing-songed.

"R-right." And with that, Hinata left with Natsu, trying not to think how incredibly domestic that had just been.

================================

"I'm telling you, Kageyama! It was just so weird!"

Kageyama only scoffed and said, "Well, that's fairly obvious."

"I mean, what was he even doing in my house in the first place?"

"That should have been one of the first questions you asked him, dumbass."

Hinata didn't know whether to be angry at Kageyama for calling him a dumbass or calling him a dumbass when Natsu was only a few feet away. Hinata quickly checked to make sure she wasn’t listening. Thankfully, she was sitting outside of their sand court in the grass, happily coloring in a Disney coloring book. Hinata turned back to Kageyama.

"Hey! Don't swear in front of Natsu! And besides, anyone would have forgotten to ask some questions when the guy from an opposing team is just making pancakes in your house like he belongs there."

Kageyama scoffed. "Not one as obvious as that one."

"Ugh!" Hinata didn't see a point arguing this point any further and instead asked for another toss. It seemed like that was the only thing Kageyama obliged him on.

The park they were at wasn't too far from Karasuno High School. Sometimes, when Kageyama and Hinata wanted to play volleyball over breaks the gym was often closed. It had been pretty lucky that they found a court to practice on not far from school. They had come across it while running with the team. Kageyama had gotten that weird pinched up smile he got when he was extra excited.

They played a bit more. The subject didn't come up again until they decided to take a break. Hinata sipped at his water bottle while Kageyama did the same. Sometimes giving quick glances to the plate with the pancake on it. When Hinata had brought it and asked if Kageyama wanted any, he looked at it with suspicion. He had taken a few bites and asked why Hinata brought him a pancake. Hinata had explained that Oikawa had given it to him so that he could give it to Kageyama. That lead to Kageyama asking why the hell Oikawa was giving him pancakes and Hinata had explained the situation while playing. The pancake had been untouched ever since.

Hinata took one last swig of his water bottle when Kageyama said, "Why don't you call your mom about it?"

"Huh?"

"She'd probably know, right? Since Oikawa is apparently on a first name basis with her."

Hinata nodded. "Yeah, makes sense."

He got his phone from his bag and dialed his mom's cell phone number.

It rang a few times before she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mama. It's me."

"Shou-chan! Hello! Well, isn't this a nice surprise!"

He scratched the back of his head. He wished she would just drop the nickname.

"Yeah, Mama. Hi."

She was just so excited she started talking about her day. Hinata didn't have the heart to interrupt her. Apparently, all of the employees at the office thought to make their called-in workday better, they all agreed to bring in something for breakfast. They had a big potluck and it had made it that much better.

Eventually Mama seemed to come back to herself and asked what Hinata had called her for.

"Oh! Uh, so this morning… we, uh, Natsu and I… there was someone else in the house?"

"Who?"

"Oikawa? From the Aoba Jousai team? Why was he there?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, his parents are good friends of mine from work. We had actually thought at one point that the two of you should be playmates. Since the two of you are around the same age."

Mama laughed like she was thinking of a wonderful memory. Hinata didn't think it was that funny. He had half a mind to remind his mother that he wasn’t at the age to be needing playmates anymore. Only teammates. But he held his tongue and made himself ask about more pressing matters. His mind was also reeling from the fact that Mama and Oikawa’s parents were so close.

"So, why is he here again?"

"Well, the Oikawas are getting their house remodeled. They needed somewhere to stay. Well, Tooru-kun does at least. His parents took the opportunity to go on a cruise."

"What? Why isn't he with them then?"

"From what I understand Tooru-kun already had plans with his friends and didn't want to go."

Oikawa was a weird guy, Hinata could admit. But saying no to a cruise? Definitely weird.

"Well, either way," Mama continued, "I hope the two of you are being kind and considerate to our guest."

She said it in that way that moms have. Like what she's saying sounds like a question but at the same time sounds like she already knows the answer and is pissed about it.

"Uh… well…"

"Did the two of you behave?"

"Well, I called him lame and then Natsu got mad at him for making me cry and-"

"What?"

Hinata floundered for a bit. He didn’t know how to explain to his mother that OIkawa had sort of made him cry but it wasn’t really his fault it was just the fact he won that stupid game and losing made him cry not specifically anything Oikawa did besides win but Mama seemed to pick up on the reason.

"Oh, yes yes yes. That’s right. But did you explain to Natsu that that wasn't his fault?"

"I tried to but she still thinks it was him that made me cry."

Hinata refused to look at Kageyama when he was talking about him crying with his mom.

"Well, there's nothing that can be done about it now. Just try to be warm and welcoming to him, alright? He's a very sweet and shy boy."

If he didn't know his mother would scold him into next week, Hinata would have laughed. Oikawa? Sweet? Shy? Pull the other one.

"Okay, Mama," Hinata said instead.

"Alright. Well, I need to get back to work. Tell Natsu Mama says to be nicer to Tooru-kun."

"Okay."

"Alright. Bye-bye. Love you both!"

"Ok. Bye. L-love you too."

Hinata quickly hung up the phone and braced himself from the barrage of teasing he expected from Kageyama. He was probably laughing his ass off.

But when there wasn't any laughter, Hinata looked up to see Kageyama staring at him with a blank expression.

"So? What's going on?"

Hinata breathed a brief sigh of relief and explained the situation.

Kageyama's face went from blank to scowl city in less than a minute into Hinata's story.

"He must be planning something."

Hinata should probably have not been as surprised at that statement as he was. 

"What are you talking about? If he needs a place to stay then why shouldn't his parents want to put him with an adult they trust?"

"Because even in middle school his parents would remodel the house. He always stayed with his friends. So why is he staying at your house now?"

"Maybe his other friends were busy?"

Kageyama didn't look like he believed him. But Hinata honestly didn't care that much about it. And sure Oikawa's kind of weird and creepy but if he needed a place to stay and Mama was okay with him staying then that's all Hinata needed to know.

However, Natsu not being happy around him was certainly a big problem. He doesn't know how long Oikawa was going to stay with them but he didn't want Natsu to be unhappy during that time.

Kageyama, deciding their break was done, told Hinata to get into position. Hinata obliged while simultaneously trying to come up with some kind of plan.

====================================

"What?"

Hinata wasn't sure but he may have just made the Grand King speechless. He mentally gave himself a pat on the back.

"I said do you want to get dinner?"

Oikawa was staring at him as if he just popped the question out of nowhere. There was a long stretch of silence. Hinata heard about three cars pass by their house. They didn't live on a particularly busy street. Hinata gulped.

"Um… I guess that's a no?"

Oikawa seemed to come back to himself in a snap. His usual smile back in its usual place as if it'd never left.

"Oh, Shrimpy~" Oikawa touched one hand to his face. "Are you confessing to me? How cute~"

It was Hinata's turn to gape at Oikawa. "Wh-What!?"

"No need to be so shy. It's fairly obvious you have a crush on me, right? It's only natural."

"Wh-What?!"

Oikawa just chuckled. Then he waited as if he was giving Hinata enough time to realize himself that he had a crush on Oikawa.

"Th-th-that's not it at all! I-I'm not asking you out on a date! Okay? Natsu's coming too. We normally go into town for dinner when Mama's not home! I just thought you were a human and, you know, needed to eat!"

Oikawa's smile dropped.

"Don't look so disappointed!"

Oikawa sighed. "Alright. Let's go then."

Hinata just made a disbelieving squawking sound. What the hell was this guy playing at?

Oikawa walked into the bathroom without saying anything. He didn’t hear Hinata’s attempt at a comeback. It was probably for the best.

“Ugh, can you believe that guy?” Hinata said turning to Natsu.

Natsu only glared at the bathroom door and didn’t say anything.

Natsu had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since they got home from practicing with Kageyama.

Hinata wished there was a way to get Natsu to understand that his crying that one time wasn't Oikawa's fault (well, not 100% at least). He had even tried to talk to her about it today. She refused to listen. She insisted that it was still Oikawa's fault and she wouldn't forgive him unless Oikawa properly apologized.

Which would never happen because Hinata had no intention of ever breathing a word about that incident to Oikawa.

But still, he didn't want Natsu to be uncomfortable and he didn't want to throw Oikawa out. That'd just be rude and Mama would never let him hear the end of it.

So maybe all of them eating together would help somehow. But then again, Oikawa is pretty weird. Hinata wasn't necessarily sure he wanted to have Oikawa around. He kept saying weird stuff. Stuff that was totally not true. Not at all. Nope.

When Oikawa waltzed out of the bathroom, he looked nicer… somehow. The skin on his face looked softer and smoother. Even his lips looked softer. When Hinata asked him about Oikawa only said that he had needed to freshen up a bit. Hinata didn’t know what kind of witchcraft he used on his face but Hinata would leave it for another time.

They decided to take the bikes to town. Hinata and Natsu being the pros they were at bicycling didn't even think that someone wouldn't know how to ride one.

"Here, Grand King. This is my older bike," Hinata said, wheeling the bike toward Oikawa. "The wheels squeak a lot but you can adjust the seat higher than mine. Since, you know, you're freakishly tall."

Oikawa didn't take the bait at all and instead stared down the bike like it was an opponent on the court.

"Uh… Oikawa?"

Oikawa briefly glanced at Hinata and just as quickly looked away.

"Uh. Do you not like it?"

"No," Oikawa said. "It should be more than good enough for me."

Hinata didn't know why but the way Oikawa said that just really pissed him off.

"Great, then get on."

Hinata mounted his bike and Natsu did the same.

Hinata caught out of the corner of his eye Oikawa gingerly getting on his bike.

"Ready?" Hinata called to him.

Oikawa gave him an okay sign and Hinata pushed off. It wasn't until Hinata and Natsu were half-way down the hill that they bothered to look back and see that Oikawa wasn't even behind them.

A few seconds later his phone buzzed.

It was from Kageyama.

_Oikawa says he needs your number and won’t tell me why_

Hinata stared at his phone for a bit, completely bewildered before typing a reply.

_What?????_

_Read the text again if you don’t understand._

Hinata grunted at the phone in frustration. He even shook it a few times for good measure. Eventually he decided to type out a reply

_Okay? Then just give him my number? I guess?_

_i don’t envy you_

Hinata was working furiously at the keys to tell Kageyama how full of shit he was when his phone buzzed again.

_SHRIMPY!! D: WHERE DID YOU GO!? WHY DID YIU LEAVE ME IN THR FOREST!!! THIS IS THE WORST DATE I'VE EVER BEEN ON :(((((((_

Hinata hesitated to save Oikawa's number. He briefly considered blocking the number in fact. But he sighed and wrote back.

_FOR THE LAST TIME THIS ISN'T A DATE!!! AND WE DIDN'T LEAVE YOU ON PURPOSE!! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE RIGHT BEHIND US!?!?_

"Come on, Natsu. We have to go get the Grand King." Hinata offered his hand and Natsu took it in her own tiny hand.

He thought Natsu would pout but instead she giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"You were making funny faces at your phone."

Natsu then started to make all of the faces that Hinata could only assume were supposed to be the faces that he made.

They started walking their bikes back up the hill while Hinata's phone buzzed periodically.

One text was Oikawa asking if they were on their way with a bunch of crying emojis. Hinata sighed and typed out that he and Natsu were on their way.

The next texts were a series of pictures. The first Oikawa was looking around worriedly with the caption. "Hurry!! There's something in the bushes."

Hinata rolled his eyes and replied, "There's nothing in the forest that can hurt you."

The next picture was a close up of Oikawa. "I think it's getting closer!"

"I think you're overreacting."

Oikawa's next picture only contained half of his face and Hinata could see the trees and brush behind him. Oikawa's handsome face was skewed into a look of terror.

"There's something in the bushes I swear to God!!!! I am blaming you for my untimely death Shrimpy!!!!"

Hinata was halfway through typing "Calm down" when his phone buzzed again.

This time it was just a blurred picture of something. Looked like the brush and… a small animal.

The caption was "HOLY SHIT FUCKING FUCKER FUCK!!!

Hinata laughed. Hard. And for awhile.

Oikawa's next message wasn't even a picture. Just a regular text.

_Tell anyone about this and I'll murder you_

That only made Hinata laugh harder. At Natsu's questioning stare, he showed her the pictures and texts, carefully and strategically placing his thumb over expletives.

When they got to the last text, Natsu laughed too.

"The Grand King sure is a coward, huh?" she asked.

"Natsu! That's not nice," Hinata said. But his laugh hissing through his teeth belied his cool stern older brother persona.

They finally got back to the forest and Hinata couldn't help himself.

"Hey, Grand King~ Does somebody need to be saved from the evil tiny forest creatures?"

Natsu was trying to hold her giggles in with her hand.

Oikawa was not nearly as amused.

"Ha ha, Shrimpy. Very funny."

The look on Oikawa's face was entirely unimpressed and equally priceless. Hinata couldn't help but laugh harder.

"The Great… The Great K-King! Brought to his knees by some… some squirrel?" Hinata had to take frequent pauses while speaking because this was too much. He couldn't breathe. This was the best day ever!

"I'd appreciate it if we never talk about this again. And besides… it was… a really big squirrel."

Hinata made the biggest and most disgusting snorting sound ever made by a human. He had tried to keep in his laughter but to no avail.

He couldn't help it. Today had been several shades of wild and Hinata felt like he deserved to laugh.

When he calmed down enough, Natsu was smiling up at him and Oikawa's face was blank but not completely closed off. Hinata just smiled at him and said, "Sorry. But you have to admit that was pretty funny."

"Not particularly for me. First I thought I was gonna die then I get laughed by a short ginger. Ugh, can we go now? I'm starving." 

Oikawa then picked up his bike from where it had been laying on the ground. He proceeded to walk the bike toward town.

Natsu and Hinata shared a look. Natsu smiled but it was more sober than it had been. Maybe she felt bad for laughing at Oikawa.

Hinata sighed. "Sorry, Oikawa. Look, if it makes you feel better how about I buy you dinner?"

Oikawa snapped out of his sour mood in a second. He turned his bright eyes to Hinata and said, "Really?"

"Uh, y-yeah." Hinata felt himself get a little warm under the collar from the attention he was getting.

Oikawa twittered out a laugh and said, "Maybe this date isn't so bad after all."

Hinata could tell his face was super red now and he snapped, "For the last time! It's not a date! Who would bring their baby sister on a date?"

"A kind idiot who'd rather bring his baby sister than leave her inside an empty house by herself, perhaps?" Oikawa answered smoothly.

Hinata stopped and stared. He didn't know whether to be offended, livid, or flattered.

"That's right! Oniichan is the best idiot ever!"

Hinata shot Natsu a scandalized look. "Natsu, you agree with him?"

"Yep," she said, unapologetically. "You're the best big brother ever. But sometimes you're an idiot."

Oikawa laughed and Hinata couldn't believe it.

"What? Natsu, you're not supposed to say things like that to your brother."

"But it's true. Sometimes you forget to come get me.Sometimes when you’re watching volleyball you forget about the dinner you were cooking. And sometimes the dryer shrinks my dresses because you weren’t watching it."

Hinata didn't know what to say. He still heard Oikawa laughing.

"See? Even Natsu-chan knows you're a bit of an idiot. Best to just embrace it. Right, Shrimpy?"

"Okay! So I'm forgetful sometimes! It doesn't mean I'm an idiot! I-"

Hinata would have continued if he hadn't felt someone's warm hand slip into his unoccupied one.

Hinata barely registered Oikawa was talking until he called him that annoying nickname.

"-Shrimpy. What? Don't have anything to say to that?"

Hinata didn't know what Oikawa was talking about but he assumed it was something degrading so he shot back. "Oh yeah? Well, same to you!"

It didn't exactly have the effect that Hinata was looking for. In fact, quite the opposite. Instead of being offended, Oikawa just smiled that easy smile of his and squeezed his hand tighter. Hinata felt his heart rate pick up. Hinata didn't look up at Oikawa at that point in time. He just stared at their hands interlocked and silently cursed the universe that Oikawa's hands were bigger than his and slightly rougher. A callused thumb from years of practicing sets gently ran across his knuckles. Hinata held his breath. He didn't know what to expect next.

He was surprised to realize that he was disappointed when Oikawa took his hand away.

"Well, let's get going then. I'm sure we're already late for our reservations at that five star restaurant you're taking me to." Oikawa put both of his hands back on the bike handles and started to walk toward town. Hinata sighed.

"Sorry to disappoint, Grand King, but us common folk can only afford a trip to a fast food burger joint."

Oikawa had the audacity to put a finger to his lips and ponder. "Hmmm… well, I am in the mood for commoner food at the moment."

Hinata just rolled his eyes. He and Natsu began walking toward town along side Oikawa. When they all got to where Natsu and Hinata had left their bikes, they decided to just walk their bikes down. Oikawa wouldn't tell them the reason why he preferred to walk but it didn't take Natsu or Hinata long to guess.

"I think I found something I'm better at than the Grand King!"

Natsu giggled."The Grand King doesn't ride bikes~"

Once she began to sing the teasing tune it didn't take a whole lot more for Hinata to join in.

"Hey!" Oikawa snapped. "Listen, it's not my fault I never learned how!"

Hinata giggled. "Sorry, Grand King."

They stopped singing the song but they couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces.

Eventually they all made it into town in one piece. Hinata and Natsu lead Oikawa to their favorite burger place. Oikawa's eyes lit up when he saw it.

"I haven't been here in awhile," he said.

"Natsu and I come here sometimes when Mama's working. Especially if I have volleyball practice."

"Oniichan's too tired after volleyball practice to cook." Natsu added.

Oikawa nodded. "I know the feeling well."

They ordered their food and Hinata had completely forgotten about his promise to pay for Oikawa. That is until Oikawa sort of graciously reminded Hinata of his promise. It involved a lot of crocodile tears and logic you would use in a playground scuffle. "But you said you would! You're breaking your promise!"

After they got their food, they sat down at a table near the window. Natsu started playing with the toy she got with her meal and Hinata tried to look everywhere except for Oikawa.

Hinata was sitting next to Natsu in their small booth and Oikawa was sitting across from them. The bastard was smiling away at him as if he hadn't taken off his shoe and was running his foot up and down Hinata's calf.

Hinata scowled at Oikawa. At least he tried. With how flustered Oikawa's impromptu game of footsies made him, there was no way of really knowing what facial expression he had. Oikawa didn't seem at all bothered by Hinata's expression and continued on.

Hinata held up a hand to shield his mouth from Natsu's eyes.

«Get your goddamn foot off of me, you bastard!» Hinata mouthed at Oikawa.

Oikawa only continued to smile.

«Make me.»

Hinata's blood boiled. Oikawa just leaned back and removed his foot.

"I have to use the bathroom," Oikawa announced out loud. He sent Hinata an annoying wink and got up from their table. Hinata sighed as he walked passed.

Hinata and Natsu continued to eat their meal. After awhile, Hinata felt small eyes gaze up at him.

"What is it, Natsu?" he asked.

"Do you really think the Grand King is cute?" she asked.

It took a few minutes for Hinata's mind to get back on track after that reeling question.

"Um… no?"

"Oh. So you were lying?"

"Natsu, what? When-"

"Back in the forest. You were all wooooooooooo after the Grand King went bam! Then he was all ‘I think you’re cute’ and you were all ‘so are you!’ then you made eyes at each other like how Mama makes eyes at the bakery man."

Hinata tried to wrap his head around Natsu’s adorable reinterpretation of what had happened. He grinned at Natsu’s use of onomatopoeia words and her impression of Oikawa. He did remember responding like that to something Oikawa said. But didn't Oikawa insult him? He actually said…

"He thinks I'm cute!?"

From the stares everyone in the restaurant were giving him, he realized how loud that must have been. He gave the on-lookers an apologetic wave and smile.

Natsu just rolled her eyes. "Duh, Nii-chan."

Hinata didn't really understand if it was pretty obvious or Oikawa was just messing with him. He figured that it was probably the latter since he can't imagine anyone flirting like that when they're serious.

Although if he was serious…

Hinata shook his head to dispel that thought from ever completely forming. He told Natsu to keep eating and began shoveling the rest of his meal into his mouth.

It was a couple minutes after they had both finished when they started wondering where Oikawa had gotten to.

Hinata got out his phone and typed a quick message.

_Are you shitting bricks in there? Where the hell you?_

He got a reply almost immediately.

_How crude. And no im not. Aren't u comming in 2?_

_uh no i dont like public bathrooms. Just finish up in there and lets go_

A few minutes later, Oikawa appeared looking a bit red in the face and.. disappointed.

Hinata smiled sweetly and said, "Couldn't push it out, Grand King?"

"Bite me, Smalls."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu's still mad at the Grand King. Oikawa's still saying weird stuff. Let Hinata breathe already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Wow I super didn't expect like anything at all for the first chapter so it made me super duper happy that you guys subscribed and left kudos and uuuggghhhh!! Does it do the heart good? Yes! Yes is always the answer to that question! So I wrote this chapter and I edited it myself so if you see a grammar mistake or anything like that feel free to point it out! Otherwise, if you like it feel free to leave a comment! Does it do the heart good? The answer is yes! I'm currently about a quarter through the next part so it won't take that long! So within the week or so! Anyway thanks so much guys and enjoy this chapter!

Once they got back home, all of them were full and tired and poor little Natsu was swaying on her feet. With some goading and promises to play all day again tomorrow, Natsu let herself be corralled into the bathroom to brush her teeth and slip on her pajamas. After she nodded off safely tucked into her bed, the task of finding somewhere for Oikawa to sleep became apparent.

"We can't put you on the coach. Mama wouldn't like that at all."

"Well, I'm not sleeping on the floor either," Oikawa said.

"Yeah, Mama wouldn't like that either." Hinata scratched his head and looked around.

He motioned for Oikawa to follow him as he lead the way toward his room.

Oikawa he realized what was going on very quickly.

"Oh~ Shrimpy~ Isn't this all a bit too sudden? Why, we haven't even kissed yet. Oh, I'm so nervous! Hold me!"

Hinata punched Oikawa in the arm as hard as he could. His face was so hot and he could feel his hands shake.

"Don't say stuff like that! That's a terrible thing to joke about!"

"Who said I was joking?"

Hinata glared at Oikawa, daring him to start laughing at him. If he even found so much as a smile on that smug infuriatingly attractive face, he didn't know what he would do.

Oikawa was smiling. But it was that different smile. Hinata couldn't think. He also couldn't form coherent sentences.

"I-I- wh- this is- y-you wanna fight?"

Hinata adopted a weak fighting stance. He cursed his shaking hands and voice.

Oikawa rolled his eyes. "Well, fine then. Be that way." He was rubbing his arm where Hinata punched him.

Hinata fiddled with end of his shirt as he continued to walk toward his room. He wanted to say sorry but figured he shouldn't. It was his own damn fault for saying weird stuff.

When they got to his room, Hinata opened the sliding door and stepped aside for Oikawa to enter first. Oikawa looked around as he walked inside. He was still rubbing his arm.

"S-sorry… Is your arm okay?" Hinata asked.

"It'll be fine. Should've guessed your punch was as strong as your spike."

"Uh… w-well... I wouldn't say that but…" Hinata felt his face grow hot again.

Oikawa didn't say anything but he leaned into Hinata's space. Hinata had to crane his neck back to be able to look at him.

"Oh, but it's true," Oikawa said. "To tell you the truth, seeing your quick that first time might have been the moment…"

Oikawa often didn't trail off in the middle of his sentences. Hinata couldn't discern what emotion was playing on Oikawa's face.

He didn't know if he wanted to know.

Hinata just focused on finding a spare futon and blankets. He didn't look at Oikawa as he did. He couldn't. He didn't know what he would do if he looked at him again.

Hinata could feel Oikawa's eyes on him as he moved about his room and the hallways in search of something for Oikawa to sleep on. Hinata finally found a spare futon in the hallway closet. He dragged it into his room and spread it out on the floor.

Hinata could still feel a blush radiating off of his face. He still didn't look at Oikawa. He held his hands out as if to display the futon for Oikawa when he had it all put together. Then he went to his dresser and pulled out an old pair of sweatpants and a raggy T-shirt he used for pajamas.He went slowly, being extra careful of his movements. Oikawa was still looking at him. Judging him maybe. It only made him more nervous. He felt the nervousness in his stomach.

"Bathroom!" Hinata blurted out as he ran out of the room, clutching his pajamas to him.

He made it safely to the bathroom after he almost knocked the door off its hinges.

He splashed his face with cold water after he did his business. He smacked himself in the face a few times especially for good measure. His face was still glowing red but he didn't know what to do about that particularly. 

He almost gave himself a pep talk in the mirror. But he figured that could be an opportune time for Oikawa to walk in on him and laugh in his face.

Instead he gave himself a pep talk in his head.

Oikawa is fucking weird! But I've known bigger weirdos! Like Ueda in elementary school! He liked to eat bugs! Definitely not as weird as that guy. Oikawa might just trying to be friendly or something. I mean, Noya and Tanaka-senpai say that kind of stuff to each other all the time. And that totally doesnt make them weird! They're just really great buddies! Yeah!

Hinata felt comforted by that thought. He could no doubt deal with Oikawa's platonic flirting. He was so confident in his ability to do so that he didn't even consider the possibility of Oikawa's flirting being unplatonic.

With that confidence surging through him, he put on his pajamas. He looked over himself in the mirror and gave himself a thumbs up in the mirror. He turned on his heels and made his way back to his bedroom, throwing his day clothes in the laundry hamper.

Once there, he saw Oikawa was rummaging around in a duffle bag that had a star and alien head motif.

"Getting ready for bed?" Hinata asked cheerfully, although to Hinata it seemed like Oikawa already got ready for bed while he was previously occupied in the bathroom. His pajamas were a set and had little yellow stars dotted all over them.

Oikawa turned and gave him a sly grin. "Only if you're joining me," he replied easily.

Fuck. That was still really embarrassing. Hinata could feel himself starting to get hot in the face but suppressed the feeling as much as he could.

"Ha ha. You're funny, Grand King. Anyway, uh, good night."

Hinata promptly jumped onto his bed and turned away from Oikawa and toward the wall.

He heard Oikawa sigh. Hinata tensed up, afraid that Oikawa would push the subject but relaxed when he heard the rustling of sheets as Oikawa slid into the futon.

It was quiet for awhile. Only the sound of their breathing filled the room. It was comforting. Hinata had always liked sleepovers. They were fun and there was just something about having another person in the same room as you slept that made Hinata feel safe. Even if it was Oikawa.

Hinata retracted that thought almost as soon as it came to him. Oikawa's not a bad guy. Just an opponent from volleyball. Technically Kenma was also an opponent but he and Hinata texted almost every other day. They were friends. No matter what Kageyama said, he and Hinata were definitely friends. Hinata would even go so far as to say that they were best friends. But at least not to Kageyama's face. And they had started out as rivals.

"Hey…" Hinata said quietly. If Oikawa was already asleep, Hinata didn't want to wake him.

"Hmm?" came the sleepy response. Well, if Oikawa was asleep at least he wasn't anymore.

"Um this might be a weird question but…" Hinata trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"What?" Oikawa prodded. It wasn't demanding. It was almost gentle.

"Are… are we friends?"

There was a long stretch of silence. 

"Do you want to be friends, Shrimpy?"

Hinata thought about it and found the answer to be fairly clear.

"Y-yeah."

Oikawa snickered. Hinata felt like someone doused him with a bucket of cold water.

He was about to retract the statement with something -anything- when Oikawa started speaking.

"Then from now on you'll be Shou-chan. And you can call me Your Majesty-senpai."

"What? And also what?"

"We're friends. So now I dub you Shou-chan. It's cuter than Shrimpy, right? And if you want you can call me Your Majesty. Or Tooru is fine too. Your mom calls me Tooru-kun. Isn't that cute? You may call me that as well if you don't want to feel left out."

Hinata was exasperated but also kind of happy.

"Why would I ever call you that?"

"I don't know. But I think it'd be cute, don't you?"

"I don't…" He wanted to say he didn't think that was cute but them he thought about how Kageyama had reacted when Hinata had called him Tobio-kun that one time. The result was hilarious if not terrifying. He had gone quiet for a really long time. Then turned beet red and began screaming at him. Hinata almost got a concussion from how much Kageyama had shaken him back and forth but seeing Kageyama so embarrassed was completely worth it. 

Hinata grinned and turned toward Oikawa. Oikawa was laying on his side facing Hinata. It was pretty dark in the room but Hinata thought he saw him quirk an eyebrow when Hinata turned around.

“Yes, Shou-chan? What is it n-?”

Hinata gave Oikawa the sweetest smile he could muster and interrupted him.

"Tooru-kun~" Hinata even added an extra feminine lilt to his voice.

Silence. 

Oikawa stared for a bit his expression frozen. It twitched every so often and slowly molded itself into ugly annoyance. He slowly covered his face with his hands and turned away.

"Tooru-kun? What's the matter?"

Oikawa flinched at his given name and let out a pathetic whine.

"Ugh, s-stop that! I'm so… ugh!"

Ah, how the tables have turned.

"Tooru-kun, tomorrow? We should play volleyball just the two of us. You can show me how to jump serve. Wouldn't that be great? You can also toss to me, right? Please toss to me. I've always wanted to hit one of your tosses."

While the statement was true, Hinata fought hard so that not an ounce of sincerity entered his voice. He ultimately failed.

As soon as he was done talking, Oikawa dropped his hands from his face and whirled on him. He looked about two parts embarrassed and one part annoyed. Hinata thought he looked kind of cute like that… maybe… a little…

Oikawa's reaction so far was all in the realm of what Hinata expected to happen. However when Oikawa stood up from his futon and made his way over to Hinata's bed, that was completely not in the plan. Hinata panicked for about a minute, thinking Oikawa was on his way to do bodily harm to him.

"W-wait, Oikawa! S-sorry, I-I"

"Shut up," Oikawa murmured. It wasn't loud or commanding or harsh even. It was small, embarrassed and exasperated.

Oikawa stopped and knelt down next to Hinata so they could look each other in the eye. Then Oikawa brought his hands up toward Hinata's face. Hinata jerked back to avoid whatever hell Oikawa had planned for him. Oikawa eventually caught Hinata's face in both hands. It didn't hurt. It was firm but Hinata still felt he could break out of the hold if he really needed to.

For awhile, Oikawa just sat there, holding Hinata's gaze with the same embarrassed and exasperated expression as he had on while he had crawled over to Hinata's bed.

Hinata didn't dare to move a muscle. If Oikawa was planning on what type of punishment to inflict upon him then he didn't want to make it worse foe himself.

Eventually Oikawa huffed out a sigh and said, "This is so annoying. You… of all people…"

"Huh?"

Oikawa's face softened but there was still that exasperated look on his face.

"You're impossible. This is impossible."

Hinata wasn't quite sure what Oikawa was talking about but he decided he needed to say something.

"And yet… here we are." Hinata smiled up at Oikawa.

Oikawa huffed a laugh. He then leaned forward and planted a sound kiss on Hinata's lips.

It was over before Hinata knew it. He laid there stock still and eyes wide staring up at Oikawa. He just winked in turn and turned back to his futon. Hinata was still staring.

As Oikawa settled into his futon, he tossed Hinata one last smile and said, "Night, Shou-chan."

He turned on his side, away from Hinata. Conversation over. Which was all well and good since Hinata didn't really trust himself to speak that much. He replayed the entire night in his head. Had he missed something? Why did Oikawa just kiss him?

He wasn't exactly sure. However, Natsu’s words at the restaurant rang in his head. He reached up his fingertips and lightly touched his lips. They still felt warm and tingly where Oikawa's lips had touched his.

Hinata stayed like that for about an hour just wondering what the hell just happened. He still didn’t quite believe that Oikawa thought he was cute. At least not in the way that you want to kiss someone. More of a “oh, hey, you’re smaller than me and I find that endearing” sort of way.  
Regardless, he didn't think he could get any answers on his own so he decided to ask Oikawa directly. 

"What the hell was that?" It wasn't spoken as some kind of threat or presumption to it. It took on more of an awed tone as if someone had just experienced a beautiful but mysterious force of nature.

"A-a kiss… Shou-chan, don't tell me you don't know what a kiss is?"

Oikawa's voice was also soft in their dark small room. It had a dream like quality to it, as vague as that sounds.

Hinata huffed. "Of course, I know what it is. How could I not? But just… why?"

"I told you it was impossible, didn't I? What's more impossible than me falling for you?"

Hinata barely heard the last part.

Hinata just stared unable to fully comprehend what Oikawa had just said to him. It was weird. Totally weird. How could he even say something like that without being too embarrassed to say it at all? It didn't make any sense whatsoever.

Hinata was about to tell Oikawa that when he heard a small cry coming from Natsu's room.

Hinata was up in an instant and sprinting for Natsu's room. The awkward situation with Oikawa completely fell from his mind as he raced toward Natsu fearing the worst.

He banged the door open and was relieved to see Natsu sitting up in her bed but was saddened to hear Natsu's pitiful whimpers as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Natsu…" Hinata made his voice soft and gentle like how their mother would talk to him after he'd woken up from a nightmare. 

Natsu's head turned toward him and managed to call his name between hiccups and sobs.

Hinata swiftly but carefully placed himself on her small pink bed. He switched her table lamp on before encircling his arms around her. He petted her head and rocked her back and forth for awhile.

When her sobs had subsided for the most part, Hinata asked, "Bad dream?"

Natsu nodded.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Could I have a glass of milk?"

Hinata nodded, unable to say no to his baby sister when her voice was that small.

He gave her head one more pat and said, "Okay. I'll be back in a flash."

He got off the bed and placed Mr. Fuwa-Fuwa-san, Natsu's favorite stuffed bear, back in her arms. She clung to the teddy bear and began to pat its head much how Hinata had done to her.

Hinata carefully opened the door to see Oikawa standing in the hallway. His expression was concerned.

"Is Natsu-chan alright?" he asked.

Hinata nodded. "Yeah, she just had a bad dream."

Oikawa nodded in sympathy and said, "She wanted milk right?"

"Uh… yeah."

"I'll go get it for her. You stay with Natsu-chan."

"Huh? I mean, thank you but-"

"No buts. Nightmares are terrible but they're worse when you're alone. I'll be right back."

With that Oikawa walked toward the kitchen, leaving a flabbergasted Hinata behind. Hinata did the only thing he could think of to do and went back to Natsu's side.

When he walked back in, Natsu looked up.

"Oikawa's going to get you some milk so I'm gonna stay here."

When Natsu didn't put up any kind of protest, Hinata got marginally more worried. He sat back down next to Natsu and Natsu promptly crawled into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her while she buried her face in his chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He felt her shake her head. He patted her head and accepted it. He tried to think of things that would get her mind off of it and began making up a story about a princess and a knight and a dragon.

It was when the dragon asked the princess to tea that Oikawa walked in with a mug in his hand.

He had a soft smile on his face and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Sorry to interrupt but Shou-chan told me to get this for you, Natsu-chan. I made it a little extra special just for you."

Natsu stared at the mug contents of the mug. To Hinata is smelled and looked like milk but instead of white it was a creamy sort of yellow. Natsu shot her gaze back up at Oikawa. She jut out her lip in a disgruntled pout and buried her face into Hinata's shirt.

"N-Natsu… don't you want it?" Hinata asked. He sent apologizing looks Oikawa's way but Oikawa just waved them off.

"No," she said.

"Why not?"

"Because Grand King made it. He might have poisoned it or something!"

Hinata sighed. He wished he could say he didn't know where this came from but Hinata knew better. At the dinner table whenever Oikawa had come up in conversation he had always painted Oikawa as the villain. It was just easier that way and made his stories a lot more cool. Now though, he was beginning to regret them.

"Natsu, you know what? Oikawa's not the bad guy. In fact you know how in Avatar, Zuko was the bad guy?"

Natsu nodded. In the beginning Zuko had scared Natsu but toward the end Zuko had become Natsu's favorite character. To the point she often wanted to play as Zuko when she and Hinata played Avatar.

"But at the end," Hinata continued, "he became a good guy right?"

Natsu nodded again.

"And he was even kinda silly, right?"

Natsu was slowly lifting her head from Hinata's chest and peeking at Oikawa. She still looked a bit grumpy but Hinata could tell she was coming around.

"Oikawa's the same. First he was bad but now he's good. So you can trust him, okay?"

She was now staring straight at Oikawa without even looking away for a second. Oikawa smiled away at her as if to prove that he wasn't a bad guy anymore.

Natsu narrowed her eyes and said slowly, as if she didn't quite believe it, "Okay…"

Hinata didn't have time to relax before Natsu went on. "But he has to say sorry for making you cry, Oniichan!"

"Natsu!" Hinata's face was probably on fire for how hot it felt. "Th-th-that's… I mean" He tried desperately to try and find a way to explain this away.

"Sorry for making you cry, Shou-chan."

Hinata stared at Oikawa with wide unbelieving eyes. It wasn't the fact that Oikawa had actually apologized that had Hinata so shocked. Or the fact that he had said it to please a scared three year old. It was the fact that he said it sincerely without a trace of mocking to his voice. He even looked pretty sorry, at least as sorry as Hinata had ever seen him.

"I… it's okay…" Hinata stammered out. He was at a complete lost as to what to say or do next.

He glanced at Natsu who was critically examining Oikawa as if to see any crack or imperfection in Oikawa's sincerity. After a few seconds she seemed satisfied enough. She nodded her head.

"Good. Now say that you won't ever hurt him again."

Oikawa glanced at Natsu and said, "I don't think-"

Natsu crossed her little arms and made a huge harrumph as she sharply turned her head away from Oikawa.

"I won't ever hurt you again, Shou-chan."

"Or make fun of him."

"Or make fun of you."

"Or be mean."

Oikawa sighed. "Or be mean. Anything else?"

Natsu tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"You have to make up with a big hug!"

"Natsu!" Hinata might die. He might just keel over and die right there. There was no other foreseeable way he could escape this embarrassment inflicted upon him by his adorable little sister and her good intentions.

While Oikawa, for the most part, had gotten through Natsu's prompting with a straight face, he positively lit up with evil glee at Natsu's new instruction.

"Oh ho~? Really now. Well, I suppose I can't refuse. Shou-chan?" He turned toward Hinata with arms outstretched.

He didn't make a move to go any further though. Hinata looked down at Natsu and Natsu just stared up at him expectantly.

She even wriggled her way out of Hinata's lap so nothing was in between them. Hinata sighed and got up from the bed. He stood in front of Oikawa and awkwardly fiddled with his hands. He half expected Oikawa to just spring trap shut around him and pull him in forcefully. But when it didn't happen right away, Hinata slowly began to realize that Oikawa must be waiting for him.

Hinata tentatively took a step forward. Oikawa didn't move. Hinata took another step. He was now directly in Oikawa's personal space. Their toes were touching. Oikawa still didn't move.

It was only after Hinata leaned in that Oikawa wrapped his arms around Hinata and pulled him closer. Hinata stumbled a bit when Oikawa pulled him in but he didn't fall. Oikawa was there holding him up.

He was warm. Hinata's head rested on his firm chest while his arms encircled Oikawa's waist. It was kind of comfortable like this. Oikawa's one hand was steady and warm around his shoulders. His other hand was still carrying the mug but for some reason Hinata also felt comfort from Oikawa's wrist that gently dug into his back.

He smelled kind of nice too. Hinata didn't know if it was his deodorant or what but it smelled amazing and warm and inviting. Hinata nuzzled in a bit more hopeful that Oikawa wouldn't notice. He did.

He didn't say a thing. He just squeezed Hinata tighter. He even went so far as to put his head on top of Hinata's head.

Eventually Hinata pulled away because that was probably a good amount of time for a make-up hug, right? Right. When he looked up at Oikawa, the taller boy had this smug look on his face. But he was also blushing. Not a whole lot. But it was still visible. Hinata couldn't help the small swell of pride that he felt. Oikawa had every right to be blushing after all. Everyone always did say Hinata gave the best hugs.

Hinata gave Oikawa a big grin and turned back to Natsu.

Natsu was smiling at the two of them and clapping. She then gave Hinata a thumbs up which Hinata returned. Then she turned to Oikawa to give him a thumbs up. He didn't notice at first. He was too busy staring at Hinata for whatever reason. Hinata tried to get Oikawa to look at his sister by subtly glancing at her. When that didn't work, Hinata got visibly flustered. He nudged Oikawa with his foot and gestured at Natsu. Oikawa snapped out of his daze long enough this give Natsu a winning smile and a thumbs up back.

Natsu giggled. "All friends."

The stress of a scared Natsu was ebbing away now that she was in such a better mood. Hinata grinned over his yawn and said, "Yep. All friends. Now it's time for all friends to go all night night."

Natsu's smile dropped into a pout. "But Oniichan! I'm not sleepy! Let's play a game instead!"

"No! No games instead! Mama will be home any minute and she won't be happy that all of us are up so late."

Oikawa glanced at the clock. "It's only 9:30."

Hinata gasped. "It's later than I thought."

Natsu's pout became even more prominent and she crossed her arms. "Games!" Natsu said.

"Bed!" Hinata said.

"Games!"

"Bed!"

"Games!"

"Bed!"

"How about… we compromise?" Oikawa piped in. The siblings turned their heads to stare at Oikawa.

"Don't butt in on our conversations," Hinata sad.

"Yeah," agreed Natsu.

"You haven't even listened to my idea yet." Oikawa pouted.

They both sighed and Hinata made a motion with his hand to continue.

Oikawa brightened up immediately. "Thank you. Now what if instead of a game, Hinata tells us a story?"

Natsu's eyes lit up. She clapped her hands together and giggled.

"Story! Story!" She chanted.

"Oikawa!" Hinata growled.

Oikawa didn't even flinch and instead leaned in to Hinata. His lips practically grazed his ears. Hinata had to suppress a shudder.

"It's better than a game, right? A game would just hype her up even more. Once she gets comfy, a few sentences into the story she'll be out like a light. Trust me."

Hinata nodded. It was a good plan but he didn't like how Oikawa just assumed he knew Natsu better than he did. Natsu was his baby sister after all. But the plan couldn't hurt. Natsu already seemed to be snuggling up in her sheets already.

"Okay," Hinata said. "Which story?"

Natsu tapped her chin as she thought. "Umm… make one up!"

Hinata smiled. "Alright. Once upon a time there was a beautiful little princess named Natsu-"

"No. I don't want it to be about princess me."

"Then… what do you want it to be about?"

Natsu looked straight at Oikawa as she said, "A king!"

Hinata glanced over at Oikawa and was delighted to find he looked about as flustered as a soon to be wed bride. A blush dusted his cheeks and he covered his mouth with the tips of his fingers. Hinata could start feeling a blush crawl across his cheeks as well. He didn't find he minded much.

Until Oikawa glanced over and turned defensive. "Wh-what are you staring at?"

"N-Nothing!"

"Then stop looking!"

"I-I can do whatever I want! It's my house!"

"I-I'm gonna tell Hana-san you were being rude to me! A guest!"

"Fine. Go ahead! See if I care!"

Oikawa stuck out his tongue at him. Hinata did the same. Natsu was giggling at the two of them.

Hinata looked back at Natsu.

Natsu went on to specify what she thought the story should be about. Hinata could only nod along and try to match the story to her specific instructions. But he knew when Natsu didn’t like something. She would tell him. Loudly. And she would make him act it out a little bit. 

For awhile, Oikawa was safe from it. Soon after Hinata had started the story, Oikawa had found a seat next to Natsu on the bed. He had handed her the mug which was now cool enough to drink but also probably not as warm as it should have been. Natsu kicked her legs in excitement when she realized the hot milk had some honey in it as well.

But soon, Natsu thought the story needed a little more of something. That something turned out to be Oikawa. She somehow roped Oikawa into acting it out as well. At first Oikawa seemed more than a little put off by it. He didn’t think he liked being ordered around by this tiny person. But after awhile he seemed to really get into it. He would gesticulate more grandly. He would adopt the same theatrical tone of voice as Hinata himself used when playing with Natsu.

It was at the climax of the story where the king had to battle an evil little imp for the prince’s or the princess’s favor. Natsu kept changing her mind on who she wanted the king to end up with. The prince after all had his good points but the princess did too. Oikawa drew his sword which happened to be one of Natsu’s play wands when she wanted to be a fairy. Hinata had crouched down and was making the most hideous face he could at Oikawa as befitting an evil imp.

“I will defeat you, you foul demon,” Oikawa said, brandishing his fairy wand sword at him.

Hinata laughed as he thought an imp would laugh. “Kekekekekekeeeeee, you say that, Oh Great King, but you’ve hardly bested me last time. How do you propose to do that?”

“Well, you see, I have this!” Oikawa reached over to grab something from Natsu’s dresser. He held it up in plain view of everyone. It was one of Natsu’s play fingernail polish. The cheap stuff Mama got at the dollar store that you could easily peel off.

“What is that?” Hinata asked. 

Oikawa chuckled. It sounded like something the villain of the story should produce. Not the hero.

“This is fairy dust, of course!”

The way Oikawa said it was threatening. So Hinata acted appropriately horrified.

“What? NO!”

“Yes! Everyone knows that imps cannot touch fairy dust! The goodness of the fairy dust greatly diminishes the evil that imps are made of!”

Oikawa then began “sprinkling” the fairy dust over Hinata, much like how you would use a salt shaker.

Hinata thrashed about. “Nooooooooooo! My one weakness!”

He heard Oikawa laughing. Then he heard a soft mumble and immediately shot up. He looked toward the bed where Natsu was sound asleep. She clutched Mr. Fuwa-Fuwa-san to her chest with one arm. Her thumb in her open mouth. Her tiny lungs expanded then deflated with breath. Hinata couldn’t help but smile at the sight. He walked over and placed a tiny gentle kiss on the top of her head. He pulled up the comforter around her and gently tucked her in.

He turned back to Oikawa and held up a finger to his lips. He thought maybe Oikawa would scoff at it because of course he knew to be quiet while a child is sleeping, but he only nodded. Hinata motioned for Oikawa to follow him as the tip-toed out of the room. Once at the door, Hinata flipped the lights off and closed the door.

They didn’t start speaking until they were both back in Hinata’s room with the door closed.

“That was fun,” Oikawa said.

“Really?” Hinata asked, a bit surprised.

“Yeah. Having a kid sister around must be like a blast twenty four seven.”

Hinata chuckled, immediately recalling some instances where it wasn’t a “blast”.

As they both settle into their respective beds, he recalls a time where Natsu would stick anything she could get her hands on either in her mouth or up her nose. Hinata hardly wanted to use any of those things after the fact. Why on earth would he ever in a million years need to use a specific pencil knowing it had been up Natsu’s nose? Never. There are literally millions of other pencils in the world. He refused to use one with his baby sister’s boogies on it.

The story made Oikawa laugh. Hinata started to think how okay he was with it. With this whole arrangement. That thought made him think of a question.

“How long are you gonna stay?”

“The weekend, maybe? The week? My school still has off for summer break. How about yours?”

“I go back to school on Monday.”

Oikawa pouted. “Then who am I going to entertain myself with all week?”

Hinata grinned. “Natsu’s always looking for a playmate. Why don’t you and her hang out?”

Hinata was pleased to see that Oikawa didn’t even pretend to be unenthusiastic about the idea. He seemed to readily welcome it.

“Well, I suppose that would be a good use of my time then. She’s very cute.”

“She is.” Hinata had to agree. Wasn’t there a rule somewhere that big brothers always had to think their baby sisters were cute? Probably.

The conversation lulled for awhile. Hinata had thought that Oikawa had gone to sleep but a quiet laugh came from the futon on the floor.

“What?” Hinata asked.

“Nothing. I was just thinking how the two of you are so much alike. It’s cute.”

“What is it with tall people thinking everything shorter than them is cute? What if I’m not cute? I’m so not cute!”

Oikawa grinned up at him. “Sorry, Shou-chan. There’s no helping it. You are definitely and irresistibly cute.”

Hinata felt warmth bloom in his cheeks. He hated feeling this embarrassed but what else could someone do. Oikawa just sort of exuded this weird sort of attractiveness and Hinata himself could attest to the fact that he was not immune to it. And cute in some ways could be inferred as attractive. At least to some degree.

Hinata remembered his conversation with Natsu at the restaurant.

“You really do think I’m cute…” Hinata said, to himself mostly. Oikawa seemed to think it was for his ears as well.

“Of course… I thought that was sort of… obvious…” Oikawa’s words started off strong and sure and grew softer by the time he reached the end. Hinata couldn’t look at him.

“Um… okay.” It was the only thing Hinata could think to say. It seemed okay enough in his head. He figured he had to say something to let Oikawa know he’d heard him. But the sound of it to Hinata’s own ears made him flinch. It sounded too rough and callous. Or too aloof.

“Right,” came Oikawa’s soft reply. As if Hinata had said something substantial. Something that Oikawa hadn’t understood before but now does because of his quick little admission. Hinata was not sure what Oikawa understood. He wished he understood himself. He didn’t know what exactly was going on. Not exactly.

He was too afraid to bring it up again. Soon he fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa convinces Hinata to play volleyball with him because he's a smooth operator and knows how to treat his man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I'm back with another update! Hurray Hurrah! I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I did look it over before posting but I don't know if I caught everything. Please feel free to point out anything that I've missed. Also thank you again for everyone reading this fic and giving kudos and all that good stuff! If you'd like to leave a comment and tell me your thoughts on this fic it would be most appreciated! Thank you! And please enjoy this next chapter!

The next morning Hinata woke up to the sound of someone snapping pictures. He blinked a few times, trying to focus his vision. When it was still blurry he tried to rub them.

“Awww.” He heard someone coo. “The baby crow awakes.”

In that moment, Hinata remembered what had transpired yesterday and who exactly this unwelcomed guest in his house was.

“Oikawa! Get that phone out of my face or I will eat it!”

Oikawa immediately snatched the phone away and held it close to his chest, as if it were a precious child. “Shou-chan! You’re so mean!”

Hinata grumbled and shifted so his back was facing Oikawa. He fully intended to go back asleep. Oikawa on the other hand had other intentions.

“Hey, Shou-chan… don’t tell me you’re going back to sleep already,” Oikawa whined.

“Why not? We stayed up way too late last night and today’s the last chance I have to sleep in before I go back to school tomorrow. Leave me alone.”

“Uggghhhhh. You’re too delicate, Shou-chan.”

“Excuse me, I am tough as nails. Just don’t bother me. I want to sleep in.”

“I’ll tell Hana-chan you’re being a bad host~”

Hinata turned over just enough to glare at Oikawa. Oikawa, damn him, had only a sweet smile for him.

“What do you want?” Hinata said.

“Wellllllll,” Oikawa said, as if the thought only just occurred to him and he hadn’t been waiting for Hinata to wake up. “Remember how last night you said you wanted to play volleyball with me?”

Hinata perked up a bit at the mention of volleyball but his brow furrowed. “I don’t remember saying anything like that.”

“But you did! Right after you called me….” Oikawa trailed off. He looked off to the side. Then he looked down at his thumbs, which he seemed very interested in as he twiddled them.

“I called you what? ‘Tooru-kun’?”

The effect was instantaneous. While Hinata couldn’t see Oikawa’s face from where he was lying, he could still make out that Oikawa’s ears were bright red.

“Well, um, yes.”

“You want to go play volleyball because I called you ‘Tooru-kun?’” Hinata knew it was probably bad of him, but he thought Oikawa’s blush was fascinating. In a purely aesthetic sense.

“No. I mean, well, no, but not quite. I mean, just that, not because you called me…- but no. We should definitely still, but-”

“Okay, okay, okay. Oikawa, we’ll go play volleyball. Just… don’t hurt yourself.”

Oikawa looked up with his usual smile. It was such a shift from the strange shy Oikawa he had just seen, that it stank of an act.

“Great! Then you better get dressed, Shou-chan!”

Oikawa skipped out of the room, humming to himself.

Hinata sighed.

He quickly checked his phone first. Several texts were from Kageyama. Some of them asked if he had strangled Oikawa yet or if he’d be willing to allow him the honor. Hinata texted back that no he hadn’t and no he can’t. He had a text from Kenma asking what he was up to and the time stamp for it was 3 o’clock in the morning. Hinata decided to text back: _I was sleeping. Now I’m waking up. Ready for the day! :D_

He didn’t particularly feel like the emoji he sent. But he knew that Kenma liked emojis. Or at least he responded more often than not when Hinata used them. 

Hinata put on a pair of jeans but then remembered he was supposedly playing volleyball with Oikawa. So he slipped those off and instead pulled on a pair of basketball shorts. He quickly realized that they had a stain on them and decided to change. It took him about a whole fifteen minutes to find the right trousers. In the end he settled on a new pair of knit shorts. It had the words “Volleyball” in the Roman Alphabet embroidered on the sides with a star right next to it.

He looked in the mirror admiring how they looked on him. Then he caught a gander at his shirt. He probably needed to change that too. He rifled through his drawers to find the perfect shirt to go with his shorts. He pulled out some T-shirts and inspected each one with great scrutiny. He felt like each one didn’t live up to his awesome pants. He decided to wear a V-neck T-shirt that had blue and white stripes on it. It was a little baggy but the blue matched the blue of his shorts.

He slipped his phone into his pocket and took off downstairs. He was greeted by his mom and sister at the dining table. His mother was drinking coffee while she read the newspaper and Natsu was making faces at Oikawa who was also making faces at her.

“Morning,” Hinata called.

“Shou-chan! Good morning!” His mother called back. “How did everything go last night? Sorry I came back so late. I thought I’d at least be able to be back in time for a good night kiss from the two of you but no such luck. By the time I got home all of you were so sound asleep. Even you Tooru-kun!”

Oikawa grinned at her and said, “Well, Shou-chan and Natsu-chan had quite a time tiring me out last night.”

“Really?”

“Yep, Natsu-chan wanted a story and-”

Hinata had to stop that train of thought right there. Mama was a wonderful lady but there were somethings that she did not abide by. Like imposing on a guest. She would definitely think that if she heard about how Natsu had roped Oikawa into an impromptu stage performance of a fantasy of hers.

Hinata waved his arms from behind his mother’s head and made exaggerated motions with his hands until Oikawa glanced at him. He made a big X with his arms and shook his head.

His mother turned around and Hinata dropped his hands to his sides and looked expectantly at Oikawa, waiting for him to continue.

When Hinata’s mother turned around, Oikawa did continue but left out the part about acting out the story and instead said that they all went to sleep soundly without a peep.

“Then why did you say they tired you out, dear?” she asked.

“Oh, well, they… wanted to go to town for dinner on bikes. Which I was more than happy to do. It was fun but tiring.”

Crisis averted for now, Hinata wandered into the kitchen and grabbed himself a bowl of cereal. He sat next to Natsu at the table and would join in the conversation that his mother and Oikawa had started. Hinata would look back on that moment in wonder. Partly because the day before had been slightly awkward and tense. It’s amazing how much an opinion of someone can change when you see how they react to a small child in distress.

Hinata felt warm in his chest every time he thought about Oikawa going above and beyond the call of duty to make sure his baby sister was happy.

It was so nice and comfortable that Hinata hardly managed to keep track of the time and it was almost lunch time by the time Oikawa or Hinata made a move to leave.

When his mother asked him where he was going, he said, “Oikawa and I are going to the park to play volleyball!”

“Well, all right. Don’t stay out too late now. I have the day off today and I’ll be making a big dinner! So don’t you two forget!”

Hinata could only express his joy through a big jump in the air. “Thanks, Mama!”

Natsu saw Hinata jump and decided to jump with him. “Thanks, Mama!” she said.

She laughed good naturedly and patted the both of them on the head. “You’re very welcome. Natsu, would you like to help Mama or play with the boys today?”

Natsu looked up at her brother and then at Oikawa. Then she looked at her mother. She played with the ends of her dress and continued to look back and forth between the three of them for a bit. Then she said, “Um… I wanna do both…”

“That’s fine with me,” Mama said. “Shou-chan, why don’t you take Natsu with you for a bit and how about around three you come home?”

Hinata looked at the clock. It was 11 o’clock in the morning. If they left now and got there within their normal time of traveling over there, they wouldn’t be over there until 11:25. That meant only four hours of volleyball?

“Alright,” Hinata said. He would have liked to have played longer but he didn’t want Natsu to miss out on something she wanted to do.

“Good,” Mama said.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

They got to the court right after 12. They had to wait for Natsu to get ready. The house had turned into a blind panic when she hadn’t been able to find Mr. Fuwa-Fuwa-san. They found him underneath Oikawa’s bag of all places.

So needless to say with less than three hours of volleyball, Hinata was antsy.

“Okay, Oikawa, give it to me!”

Oikawa seemed genuinely taken aback. “At least let me take you to dinner first.”

Hinata at this point didn’t even feel like rising to the bait. He just took his volleyball and threw it at him. Oikawa caught it easily between his two hands.

“Toss to me!” Hinata yelled.

“Okay~” Oikawa said. He threw the ball straight up in the air, almost like how he did when he served. Hinata bounced on his feet, eyes trained to the ball. He wondered where Oikawa would set it. Would he be able to make it in time? Would he be fast enough to get it? Was Oikawa good enough to know what kind of sets Hinata preferred even if Hinata himself didn’t really know?

The questions buzzed around in his head making his muscles and everything in him rev up for the set that was coming.

The hit its peak and dropped down. Oikawa had assumed the setter’s stance under it, in the setter’s spot near the net. Hinata was wing spiker’s position but further from the net to compensate for his approach.

The ball barely touched Oikawa’s fingers and Hinata was off like a bullet. He jumped and looked at Oikawa.

Oikawa was just standing there, scrutinizing him. The ball never left his fingertips. In a flash, the ball shot out of his hand and toward Hinata. He swung. He felt the rush of air on his palm.

But there wasn’t the sting or the sound of a hit.

It sailed right by him and into a nearby bush.

Hinata watched it go and evidently did not see where he was headed. He landed with his face and hands tangled in the net.

He quickly struggled out of it and Oikawa was laughing at him.

“Shou-chan! While it’s important to watch the ball, watching the net is just as important!”

Hinata scowled at him but remained on the whole unphased. Still, he went and got the ball and brought it back. He furrowed his brow at it then looked up at Oikawa.

“How come that didn’t work?”

Oikawa let out a surprised laugh. “Aww, Shou-chan. It’s okay. Don’t give me those kicked puppy eye looks. We just have to practice is all.”

Hinata stuck his bottom lip out and murmured, “I’m not giving you puppy eye looks…”

Oikawa just snorted and ruffled his hair. He took the ball out of Hinata’s hands and said, “Wanna try again?”

Hinata lit up and jumped. “Osu!”

They went on like that for awhile. Oikawa confessed that he’s never been very good at controlling the ball as well as “some people”. When Hinata asked if Oikawa could clarify who he meant by “some people” all he got was a creepy smile and a quiet, “Forget it.”

So Hinata forgot it. He forgot all about it. In fact, he forgot about it so much he didn’t think back on it until much much later when he realized that Oikawa had in fact been talking about Kageyama. Who knew?

Oikawa instead started out giving slow lofty sets. Hinata had gotten so used to the quicks that it took him a couple tries to even hit one. Once, the ball bounced off right the top of his head. Oikawa had snickered at him and called over to Natsu if she had seen it. Which of course she had. He tried to convince them that it was actually Oikawa’s fault. Oikawa harrumphed and informed Hinata that those particular tosses anyone could hit. Even Natsu.

That led to Natsu agreeing with Oikawa. Hinata had very steadfastly refused to believe it until he saw it. So Natsu ambled over and Oikawa didn’t so much as set to her but more like he tossed it underhand to her very very gently. Natsu didn’t jump but she was able to stick out her hand. The ball lightly bounced off and onto the court.

“Whoooooo~ Natsu-chan!” Oikawa cheered.

Hinata smiled proudly down at her when she turned her big brown eyes up at him. He lifted her up and spun her around while chanting, “Natus is the best! Natsu is the best!”

Soon Oikawa was joining in too. Natsu was giggling and clapping her hands and joined in as well.

“Well, since Natsu did such a good job of hitting that ball that must mean I was right, huh?” Oikawa said.

Hinata hummed as if he were considering it. “Well, maybe. But maybe Natsu’s just really good at volleyball. Like me.” Hinata then turned his biggest shit-eating-est grin at Oikawa. Oikawa didn’t say anything at all. They just continued playing.

When Hinata finally managed to hit the ball, a familiar rush coursed through him. It was too high and the angle wasn’t right so of course it went out of bounds. But they’d made contact nonetheless.

“Uuuoooooohhhhhhhh!” Hinata squawked at his hand.

He turned and beamed at Oikawa. “That was good! That was a good set! I hit that one!”

Oikawa seemed taken aback for a second and then he grinned. The smile made Hinata’s heart beat so much faster than he had ever experienced.

“T-Toss to me again! Please!” Hinata all but shouted at Oikawa.

“Get the ball and I’ll be happy to do just that, Shou-chan,” Oikawa replied.

So Hinata trotted over to where he thought the ball had gone. But when he got into the brush four hands reached out and grabbed him. They pulled him in before Hinata even so much as reacted with a shout.

“Wha-?”

“Sssshhhh!” a familiar voice hissed. “It’s okay, Shouyou! We got you!”

“What does he think he’s doing on our turf? Noya-san, how’s about we rough him up?”

Hinata glanced up at the familiar voices and found Tanaka and Nishinoya pushing him behind them. They were glaring at Oikawa who didn’t seem to have noticed them and was instead carrying on a polite conversation with Natsu.

“What? Tanaka-senpai? Noya-senpai? Wh-What’s going on?”

“We should be asking you that, Shouyou,” Nishinoya said, in a hushed tone. His voice wasn’t sharp but it was very firm. “Did Oikawa do or say anything to you? Is he keeping you hostage?”

“What? No, of course not!” Hinata exclaimed.

“Well, either way, he needs to be taught a lesson about Karasuno! That we don’t take kindly to anybody roughing up our kouhai! Right, Noya-san?”

“Right, Ryuu!”

Hinata tried to speak up and say that no one had roughed him up in any fashion but Nishinoya and Tanaka were already on the move. The stalked out of the bush and Hinata could tell by Tanaka’s posture that he was wearing his sweet teenage girl face. Fuck. He only did that when he was really angry.

“You guys, wait!” Hinata scrambled after them but Nishinoya had already called out to Oikawa.

“Hey! Just what do you think you’re doing with our kouhai, huh?” Nishinoya spat.

“Noya-san~, isn’t he so rude? Coming to our turf and bullying our kouhai. My, my, my, whatever shall we do with him?” Tanaka held a hand to his face and crossed his other arm beneath his elbow. The posture reminded Hinata very much of his own mother when she scolded Natsu.

“Huh?” Oikawa looked between Nishinoya and Tanaka. “I’m sorry… have we met?”

Hinata had caught up enough to see that Nishinoya’s and Tanaka’s expressions had completely frozen.

“Don’t you fucking make fun of us!” Tanaka yelled.

“Yeah! How could you forget us!? We’re on team Karasuno!”

Oikawa kept the puzzled look on his face for another half second before realization apparently dawned. He hit his fist to the palm of his hand as if he’d just figured something out.

“Oh, that’s right! The short libero and the annoying baldy! So nice to see you both again!” Oikawa gave them a stunning smile and all hell was going to break lose if Hinata didn’t step in.

“Wait! You guys, Oikawa’s not doing anything wrong! He didn’t bully me or whatever! We were just playing volleyball! That’s all!”

Nishinoya and Tanaka turned quizzical stares at Hinata.

Hinata turned to look at Oikawa and said, “They’re just looking out for me so you don’t have to be rude to them!”

To the surprise of both Nishinoya and Tanaka, Oikawa didn’t say anything else but seemed to look apologetic.

“What the hell is that ‘Shou-chan’ crap? Are you and Oikawa friends now or something?” Nishinoya asked Hinata.

“Uh, yeah? I mean, he’s staying at my house and so we kind of got to talking and he’s not a bad guy? Plus he makes really good pancakes. So… there’s that.”

Hinata might as well have just put on a clown wig and done the Macarena for how Tanaka and Nishinoya were staring at him.

“Shou-chan.”

Hinata turned to see Oikawa picking up the gym bag he had brought with him.

“I’ll take Natsu back. It’s about 3 o’clock anyway. You can hang out with your friends a bit more then. Bye-bye~”

It was so abrupt and Oikawa’s smile didn’t really reach his eyes and Hinata had that sinking feeling in his gut that told him that things weren’t okay.

But Oikawa was already on his way toward Natsu and didn’t look back.

“What the hell?” he heard Nishinoya wonder aloud.

He turned back to them and they still seemed really confused.

“You might want to explain everything from the beginning, Shouyou,” Nishinoya told him, still staring at him with wide eyes.

So Hinata did. He left out the parts of Oikawa apparently having feelings for him and his own confusing flutterings in his stomach and extra trips to the bathroom because of it. After the story, they still looked a bit unbelieving.

“So why is Oikawa staying with you again?” Tanaka asked.

“His parents went on a cruise and he didn’t want to go?”

“And why isn’t he staying with his friends?” Nishinoya asked.

“They were all busy? Or something?”

“You might want to get some clarification on that, Shouyou.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know… I mean, it’s a little weird that he just sort of… is staying at your house? I mean, I guess if his parents work with your mom or whatever… but…”

“It still reeks of something that fucking stinks,” Tanka supplied.

“Exactly. Thanks, Ryu.” Nishinoya patted Tanaka on the shoulder.

“No problem, Noya-san.”

Hinata huffed. “I don’t understand why you guys think he’s got some weird ulterior motive! I mean! He’s! Uggh!”

“He just gives me shady vibes, Shouyou. And we want you safe, okay? If you say he’s good, then he’s good with us too. Okay?”

Hinata looked between them a bit surprised. “Really?”

“Yep!” Nishinoya and Tanaka grinned at him.

They both slapped his back.

Then Tanaka got a really scary look on his face when he said, “But if he fucking hurts you, you come straight to us, right?”

Nishinoya nodded solemnly. “We’re still really good senpai, though. So any slight against our kouhai cannot be tolerated.”

“Um… okay? Thanks, Noya-senpai! Tanaka-senpai!” He gave them his biggest smile.

The two of them quickly turned away from him, each of them scratching the back of their heads. Hinata wondered why but all he could see was that their ears were turning red.

“W-well! That’s just what good senpai do, right?” Nishinoya laughed really loudly.

“E-Exactly, Noya-san! Exactly!” Tanaka let out an equally obnoxious laugh.

Hinata decided to laugh too. “You guys are the coolest senpai ever! So brave and cool!” He jumped up and down while he talked because they really were.

Nishinoya and Tanaka just nodded along to Hinata’s praises, their ears getting more and more red.

With that conversation out of the way, Hinata decided to ask if the two of them would be up for practicing a little bit. They resumed practices the next day but it seemed that Tanaka and Nishinoya seemed a bit antsy to get back into it.

Nishinoya worked with Hinata on receives while Tanaka hit at them. Hinata was getting better. He could at least get it up high enough on their side of the net so that someone could come along and easily set it but it was something else entirely to watch Tanaka and Nishinoya.

Tanaka stayed on the ground while he hit at them. It was a simple drill that Coach Ukai had them do. One person would hit at them and the team would try their best to get it up in the air. If the receive was good enough, then Ukai could spike the ball at them without moving his feet or catching it first.

Nishinoya popped it up perfectly every time. Tanaka didn’t have to move at all. The control that they possessed alone was outstanding. It seemed so effortless. And to them it was. It was such a familiar thing. Spike, dig, spike, dig, spike, dig. The both of them seemed so calm. Even when Tanaka decided to change things up and spike it somewhere else, other than whenever it was that Nishinoya was standing, Nishinoya was able to position himself in front of it and pass it up just as easily as he would have if he had just stayed still. Hinata was able to keep it up for a bit but eventually he ended up getting hit in the face.

After about the third time Hinata started to cry from the hit to his nose, Nishinoya and Tanaka decided to call it a day. 

They parted with several pats on the back and high fives.

Nishinoya yelled his parting words at Shoyou as he and Tanaka walked away together. “Remember, Shouyou! If you need anything, call us!”

“Okay!” Hinata shouted back while he walked back toward his house.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It didn’t take long for him to get back to his house. When he got back the smell of katsudon filling up the house.

“I’m home!” Hinata sang.

“Welcome back!” Three voices called out to him.

He walked into the kitchen to find his mom, Natsu, and Oikawa all in the kitchen with matching aprons on. They were all white with pink trim. They all had patchwork pockets that had cute pink cherry blossoms on them.

Natsu was doing the chopping with her small kid knife. She stood on a stool so she could reach the counter with Oikawa standing behind her gently guiding her hands as she chopped. The kid knife wasn’t very sharp but sometimes Natsu still managed to cut herself when she used it. Oikawa periodically prompted Natsu to move her fingers if the knife got too close.

Hinata’s mom was doing the majority of the work but still looked over to cast fond glances at Natsu and Oikawa. 

“It smells so good!” Hinata exclaimed. 

“Well, hopefully it’ll taste just as good as it smells,” Mama said.

Dinner passed without much incidence. Except when Mama reminded Hinata that there was probably homework that he needed to do. 

So he was confined to his room for the rest of the night staring at a math worksheet and his math textbook.

Math was so fucking confusing.

He was about to text Kageyama to see if he had done the homework and ask him if he could copy it when there was a knock on the door.

“Shou-chan~ Hana-san asked me to check on you. And to also bring you this.”

Hinata looked up to see Oikawa holding a tray with a small plate of cookies with two glasses of milk. Oikawa made his way over to Hinata and placed the tray on his desk.

“Oh, thanks, Oikawa.”

“You’re welcome. What have you got there?”

“Geometry… I don’t get it.”

“You wouldn’t be the only one, Shou-chan.”

Hinata rolled his eyes and went back to staring at the problem before him. He half-considered just to type the problem into his computer and see if the answer came up. But he knew if Daichi or Suga found out about how he wasn’t taking his school work seriously, he’d be in for it. Daichi being scary was one thing but Suga being angry was another. He didn’t know if he could face an angry Suga.

“Do you need help, Shou-chan?”

Hinata glanced over at Oikawa. There wasn’t anything teasing in his tone, almost as if he was willing to provide that help.

“What? Really?” Hinata asked.

Oikawa smiled at him. “Yep. I’m rather good at math, actually. I even tutor underclassmen sometimes when my schedule allows.”

Hinata just blinked up at Oikawa.

“Th-that would be great, actually… Th-thanks.”

Oikawa snorted out a laugh. “Don’t act so surprised everytime I offer to help you out.”

“But why do you?” Hinata asked.

Oikawa sobered. “Don’t tell me you have to ask that question…”

Oikawa’s quick peck on his lips last night flashed through Hinata’s mind. He instantly turned red and looked away.

“O-oh…” Hinata knew that wasn’t something that he should be regularly forgetting. But he truly honestly kept forgetting. Oikawa didn’t seem to make a big deal about… whatever it was that possessed him to kiss him like that. He kept saying it was obvious or he didn’t need to spell it out but Hinata wondered if that was true. He certainly would like this explained. Whatever this was. Or maybe not. All in all, Hinata was very confused about a lot of things.

Oikawa sighed. “Well, just… tell me which one you’re stuck on.”

Hinata nodded and pointed to the one he was currently trying to do.

Oikawa considered the problem and his textbook for a minute. He asked Hinata if he could borrow a pen and paper. Hinata gave it to him. Oikawa worked furiously as he drew out a triangle and plugged all the numbers where they needed to go and letters where there weren’t any numbers for. Hinata watched amazed as Oikawa began to scribble equations quickly.

After a while, Oikawa looked up with a grin and said, “I have to do it first before I can explain it. Otherwise, my explanation won’t make sense.”

Hinata nodded and tried to make heads or tails of what Oikawa had written on the paper. But he didn’t have to wait very long for Oikawa to start explaining what he had done and how he chose the equations.

Maybe it was the way that Oikawa sounded so confident in his answer or the way he explained it but Hinata felt like something was beginning to click where otherwise it hadn’t.

Hinata, at the request of Oikawa, tried the next one by himself. Oikawa checked it over and much to Hinata’s chagrin he still got it wrong. But Oikawa just grinned at him and ruffled his hair. He pointed out what he did wrong and told Hinata to try again.

It was three problems later when Hinata was ready to give up. Hinata just finished the problem and Oikawa was expectantly holding out his hand. Hinata was reluctant to hand it over.

“It’s probably wrong,” Hinata said.

“You don’t know that,” Oikawa said.

“Yeah, but…. it’s still probably wrong.”

Oikawa sighed and snatched the paper out of Hinata’s hands.

He looked it over and didn’t make any corrections. Oikawa actually looked baffled.

“Is… is it that bad?” Hinata asked.

Oikawa turned his attention from the paper to Hinata. Hinata got really uncomfortable with the intensity with which Oikawa was staring at him.

They stared at each other for about a beat before Oikawa leaped at him. Hinata let out a shriek as they both crashed to the floor.

“Shou-chan! You did it! Congratulations! How does it feel to be a smarty pants now?”

“What? Oikawa, get off me! What the heck?”

He then got the hair ruffling of his life.

“Good boy! Good boy!” Oikawa cooed.

“Am I a dog?!”

“Yep!”

Hinata huffed as he tried to push Oikawa off of him.

Oikawa was a lot harder to move from him. It reminded Hinata a bit of an octopus. He just clung to him and wouldn’t let go. Hinata kept trying to push him off but eventually gave up when it was apparent that Oikawa was going to hold onto Hinata until Oikawa wanted to stop.

“Are we done yet?”

“No~”

“When can we be done?”

“Hmmm…. whenever you say we are.”

“Now?”

“Mmmm….. maybe not right now. Later?”

Hinata heaved another sigh. He tried to get back to doing his homework as weird as that sounds but he really needed to get it done for tomorrow. It took a bit more time to finish the problems since he was so invested in getting them right. But he was able to finish the problems in a decent amount of time now that he wasn’t just guessing and he had a good chance for them to be right.

When he was done, he realized that their positions had shifted. Oikawa still clung to him but from behind. His arms wrapped around Hinata’s waist so his arms were free to move. Hinata felt Oikawa’s steady breath against the top of his head and the press of a cheek there too. It tickled a bit but it also felt… kind of nice.

He didn’t know what to do so he just stuck his work papers into Oikawa’s face. Oikawa lifted an arm from Hinata’s waist and took the papers. Hinata now felt Oikawa’s chin poke into the top of his head.

Oikawa hummed as he looked the worksheet over.

“Pretty good there, Shou-chan~ Is this a graded assignment?”

“Uh… no… I think it’s just… we do it… and…. then the teacher calls on us…. to answer….” Hinata had trouble talking at the moment. Oikawa’s chest against his back was really distracting. Not so much the chest itself, but the fact that Hinata could not only hear Oikawa breathe but felt it as well.

“Ah, then there shouldn’t be a problem,” Oikawa says. “Anything else you had trouble with?”

Oikawa places the paper back on Hinata’s desk and Hinata can’t remember if there really was anything else he was supposed to be doing.

“Um… no… I don’t think so.”

“Good.”

Hinata’s heart rate spiked. This would be the time where Oikawa would try something, right? That’s how it always happened in those comics that Shimizu liked to read. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked what she had been reading that one day. All she had done was wordlessly hand the comic over and Hinata had a rude awakening about his sexuality.

But Oikawa didn’t do anything. They just sat there like that. Oikawa had gone back to pressing his cheek against the top of Hinata’s head. He put his arm back around Hinata and they just… cuddled.

“Um… Oikawa?”

“Yes, Shou-chan?” Oikawa asked sweetly.

“What… What exactly are we doing right now?”

“Cuddling.”

The fact that he said it made this situation so much worse. Blood rushed to his face with a force that almost made him faint.

“Th-th-that’s- that’s so! Wh-why!? D-d-d-do-fight? W-wanna-”

“Shou-chan, please don’t hurt yourself. And no I don’t want to fight. I’m quite content here. Thank you.”

“Th-then….”

Oikawa sighed. “Shou-chan. Do you want me to get off? I will if you ask.”

“I did ask!”

“Oh? When was that?”

“You know damn well when!”

Oikawa sighed. “Oh alright, Shou-chan. You win.”

Oikawa slowly pried himself away from Hinata and instead grabbed a cookie from the tray that had previously gone forgotten. At least, Hinata had forgotten all about it. He took a cookie too, trying to shake the feeling that his back was suddenly unpleasantly cool.

Hinata wanted to ask. He wanted answers. He didn’t know how to get them. He felt like if he started trying to get Oikawa to talk that he’d just dance away from the questions. But he supposed he had to try. Probably had to be really tactful if he wanted to outsmart a setter like this.

“Why do you do embarrassing shit like that?” Nailed it.

Oikawa peered over at him and considered him with a blank expression.

“Like what exactly?”

“Y-You know… c-cuddling… and… th-the… the thing! That you did! L-Last night… And you know exactly what I’m talking about don’t pretend that you don’t know!”

“Does it bother you?” Oikawa asked.

“W-Well… n-not…. really.” Hinata was surprised to find out that what he himself said was true. The way Oikawa was looking at him, Hinata thought he was trying to intimidate him. He didn’t want to get in a fight so he had said something appeasing but now that he thought about it… It didn’t really bother him at the core. It was more how unexpected it was and that Hinata didn’t know the reasons behind it. That was the only parts that made him uneasy.

“Then what’s the problem?” Oikawa went on.

“I just… want to know why.”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“You keep saying that but it’s not to me!” Hinata clenched his fists and glared up at Oikawa. “Go ahead and call me an idiot or whatever! Just explain to me why!”

“I already explained it to you, didn’t I?” Oikawa’s blank expression hadn’t changed at all during the exchange. His eyes were almost cold with the lack of any feeling behind them whatsoever. It just unnerved and aggravated Hinata further.

“Maybe! But not really! At least not that I could understand! So just! I don’t know! Explain!”

“Explain what? What exactly do you want me to explain? That I have a massive crush on you? That I do all of these things because I wanted to? I do them in the hopes that you’d somehow return my feelings? That I specifically asked my parents if I could stay at Hinata Hana-san’s house while they went off on their cruise because I saw a chance and I took it? That I had a plan from the beginning to stay here so we could get to know each other better? That the plan I had flew right out the window the minute you ran downstairs yesterday with a fucking broom in your hand saying how you’d vanquish me or whatever? How I made the mistake of kissing you and spilling my guts last night before I knew you were ready because you are so cute and infuriating and I literally couldn’t help myself? Is that what you want me to explain, Shou-chan?”

Hinata was breathless. All he could do was nod. Yep, that’s exactly what he wanted explained.

Oikawa stretched his lips into a wane smile. It wasn’t kind. But neither was it cruel. It was just a smile for a smile’s sake. Hinata hated it.

“Now, Shou-chan. The question is what you plan to do with this information now that you have it.”

“I… I don’t… I don’t know…” Hinata said simply.

Oikawa sighed. To Hinata’s ears it sounded frustrated but resigned. As if he expected that kind of answer.

“Well, Shou-chan. We’ve got a week. Hopefully by then you’ll be able to tell me how you feel, yeah?”

Hinata nodded without saying a thing. He was looking at his hands because looking anywhere else was unthinkable. He heard Oikawa sigh again.

Oikawa got up and said something about sleeping in the living room. Hinata barely even registered it because Mama would never allow that to happen in a million years. He did however appreciate the time to be alone when Oikawa closed the door behind him.

Hinata looked at the papers and books on his desk. He decided he should get his school bag ready for tomorrow.

He couldn’t bring himself to even do that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata's so confused he decides to seek out help from someone already in a lovey dovey relationship! Oikawa is still his regular old self. The team is also really concerned for the baby crow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I super didn't intend for this chapter to take as long as it did! I really do apologize for how late it is! I suddenly got an influx of hours at work but they've trickled back down again so expect another update sometime next week! But I'd like to send a big thank you to everyone who is writing reviews and favoriting the story and subscribing to it! Ya'll give me life! And I seriously hope that you enjoy this next chapter~

Later that night, Oikawa had crept back into Hinata’s room. He looked cowed and Hinata knew without a doubt that Mama had goaded him back into Hinata’s room. Oikawa nodded at him and just slipped under the blankets of his futon.

Hinata had been pretending to do something. Write notes maybe? He couldn’t really remember. All he could think about was Oikawa.

He tried texting Kageyama about it but all he got were texts that only contained the word “No.” Even if Hinata hadn’t asked a yes or no question.

_So...what if I kind of liked Oikawa?_

_No_

_Um I know it would be weird for everybody but. it can’t be that bad??_

_No_

_Why would it be bad???_

_No_

_KAGEYAMA IS THAT ALL YOU CAN TYPE!?!?! NO!?!?_

_NO_

Hinata gave up after a while, figuring it would be kind of useless to talk to someone who was so frustrating. He didn’t even know why he’d texted Kageyama in the first place. Big help he was.

Hinata shifted through his contacts praying any name would jump out at him. There had to be someone he could talk to about this.

He’d already sort of talked to Nishinoya and Tanaka about it. But they didn’t really know that Oikawa had actually made a move on him. They also didn’t know that he actually kind of liked it. He didn’t know how they would take the news, honestly. He’d hoped that they would be supportive and not immediately shut it down. Hinata didn’t even really know for sure if he liked the guy back or not.

Kageyama was an obvious NO.

Hinata would probably feel guilty texting Kenma about it. Kenma seemed like the kind of person to shy away from social things and since liking someone and also considering dating someone were mega ultra social things, he ultimately decided against it.

He didn’t really know Asahi that well to tell him about his maybe crush and that went for the majority of the other people on his team.

Except for maybe one person…

Hinata figured Suga would be the least likely person to harass him about his choice in a maybe-like interest… or whatever it was that Oikawa was to him. Suga had a general air about them that made them really approachable and like they wouldn’t even judge you.

Hinata decided to try.

_hey… can i ask you a question???_

Hinata decided to get ready for bed himself. He plugged his phone into the charger he kept by his bed while he got changed and brushed his teeth. When he returned, his phone alerted him to a new message.

_Sure! Anything at all!_

The time stamp on it was only a minute after he sent his message. Hinata smiled.

_Um its kind of weird but like how do you know if you like someone?_

Hinata’s face was already red hot by the time he sent it. He almost threw his phone at the wall because of how embarrassed he felt.

Hinata jumped into bed and pulled his pillow over top of his head.

A few seconds later, his phone pinged again.

_Not weird at all. And the answer is sort of nebulous. I’m not quite sure myself half the time._

Hinata sighed in relief. He knew Suga liked to tease as much as the next person but at least they made a conscious effort to hold back on it. There was a time and a place, after all.

Hinata decided to text back. _I’ve never really liked anyone before. So… what does it feel like?? You’ve liked people, right?_ 

Hinata knew that Suga and Daichi had been dating at least since golden week. The whole team knew in fact. But he still wasn’t sure if Suga knew that the rest of the team knew.

The next answer wasn’t as quick as the other ones.

_Well… yes. But it’s kind of been different every time. It mostly depends on the person you like_

Hinata squinted at his phone’s screen making sure he read it right. It kind of made sense but at the same time all those movies and books and everything all had the same symbolism and words for liking someone. Normally burning and all-consuming type stuff. Like you get the jitters and you’re not able to think about anything else. There were different ways to like someone?

Hinata tried to formulate some kind of sentence to text back. Either a question or some kind of witty statement to let Suga know how he feels about the information.

All he could come up with was _????????????????_

_Ahahahaha. A little vague I know. It’s hard to talk about it through text. Why don’t you come find me tomorrow during lunch and we can talk more then? If you’re comfortable with that_

Hinata didn’t know how to respond. On the one hand he felt really grateful that Suga would spend their lunch with Hinata. It was really nice of them. On the other hand, it was easier at least for him to talk about it via texts. If he suddenly had to talk about it vocally with another person, he didn’t know if he could do that.

In the end he decided he should accept. He needed some kind of guidance in this and who better to ask than Suga.

_No im fine with that. I’ll buy you a meat bun as thanks after practice tomorrow!!!!_

_Ah! Thanks Hinata! But it’s really unnecessary!!_

They sent him a lot of happy emojis though so Hinata could tell Suga was looking forward to the meat bun.

“Hey….”

Hinata followed the gruff voice to where Oikawa was sitting up on his futon. He was rubbing his eyes and squinting at him. A pout accented his lips and Hinata had to remind himself that he wasn’t 100% sure yet if he liked Oikawa. These thoughts of kissing were out of place right now.

“Are you done texting Mr. Refreshing yet? Can you turn the lights off so some of us can go to sleep?”

Hinata pouted back at him. “You can turn the lights off yourself, you big baby.”

Oikawa huffed and flopped back down on the futon. “Shou-chan is soooooo meannnnn! And I’m the guuueessssttt!”

He honestly didn’t say it that loud but Hinata still checked to make sure the door was closed so that Mama wouldn’t hear. Once he made sure the coast was clear, he sent an unimpressed glare at Oikawa.

“If you were trying to convince me you weren’t a big baby, you failed.”

However, Hinata was unaware of the power behind Oikawa’s lip wobble and puppy eyes. He found himself getting up from his bed and making his way to the light switch at the other end of his small room. He flipped it off allowing the rest of the room to be coated in a pitch black.

Once Hinata made it safely back to his bed, he pulled his covers up around himself and sighed into his pillow. He was about to drift off when he heard Oikawa whisper.

“Shou-chan…”

He groaned as he sat up in bed to catch a glance at Oikawa better. Hinata still couldn’t see a lot in the darkness but he thought he could see Oikawa’s outline still laying down in his futon.

“What is it?”

“I love you~”

A beat of silence.

“Um… I-I know…?” Hinata honestly didn’t know what to say.

He heard Oikawa snicker.

“Oh no~ Shrimpy just Han Solo’d me~ He’s so cool~”

“S-Stop it!” Hinata hissed. It was too hot a night for this. He had already been sweating but hearing Oikawa call him cool sent a new wave of warmth through him and he didn’t really appreciate it right then.

Oikawa just continued to hiss with laughter.

“A-And… I-I already know how you feel…” Hinata continued. “S-so you don’t have to, you know, keep saying it….”

Oikawa’s laughter died down enough for him to say, “I know. I just like saying it.”

Hinata kind of liked hearing it. But he didn’t dare tell that to Oikawa just yet. He still needed to sort everything out.

Instead he said, “Okay… well, good night.”

“Good night, Shou-chan. Pleasant dreams~”

Hinata laid back down in his bed and turned his back toward Oikawa. With everything that had happened that day, he didn’t find it that hard to fall asleep.

=======================

The next morning, however, he found it particularly hard to get up in time for school. He was woken up by his mother shaking his shoulder gently and calling his name.

“Shou-chan! Shou-chan! You have to get up! It’s your first day back to school after summer break!”

He opened his eyes and blearily blinked up at her. He groped for his phone and looked at the screen once he found it. The clock read 6:23 which was approximately five minutes before he had to leave his house to get to morning practice in time.

Hinata screamed in a panic and decided he could quickly shower after practice at school. He raced to get ready. His socks probably didn’t match and maybe there was a stain on his pants but he didn’t have time to find a clean pair.

He grabbed his bag and sped down the stairs. He wasn’t even able to grab a few pieces of toast as he ran to the door. He pulled on his shoes and shouted that he was leaving. His mother told him to wait but Hinata thought she only wanted a kiss goodbye and hand him something to eat on the way. He felt a little guilty but he was super late. He would be grateful if Daichi only glared at him a little bit and didn’t string him up to the bleachers in effigy.

He ran to his bike and mounted it while wheeling it toward the main road. He had a few close calls on his way to school. Some people just didn’t know how to drive and others really needed to keep their cats on leashes or something.

He got their just in time. But Kageyama already beat him.

“AAAUUUUGGGHHHH!”

Kageyama just gave him a creepy triumphant grin.

Morning practice was hard to concentrate on. There was the whole thing with Oikawa. But there was also the whole no eating breakfast thing. He was pretty dang hungry. For the first fifteen minutes or so, he was able to do just fine. Kageyama had only yelled at him for a few missed serves. But it was after the third time they did full court shuttle runs that Hinata started to stagger. Once his stomach growled so loud that it stopped Daichi in the middle of one of his speeches about working hard. The entire team laughed, the loudest among them being Tanaka. But they all stopped when they realized how pale Hinata must have looked. Tanaka cursed so loud and thrust one of his energy bars into his hands. He got the scolding of his life from practically everyone and their mom about skipping breakfast. Even Asahi gave him a worried mother speech about it.

Hinata ate the energy bar gratefully and while it was good he still couldn’t wait for lunch. His mom packed him all of his favorites from yesterday’s dinner.

After showers and changing, Suga walked up to Hinata.

“We still on for lunch today, Hinata?” they asked, grinning.

“Ah! Yes!” Hinata bowed lowly. “Thank you again for helping me!”

Suga laughed good-naturedly and waved off his formality. “No, not at all. I can’t wait to hear all of this in fact.” They whispered the last part conspiratorially.

Hinata blushed a little at that. “Um… it’s not….”

Suga ruffled his hair and said, “Sorry. I just really am excited for you. But we can talk all about it at lunch, okay?”

Hinata nodded.

With a wave goodbye, they parted ways. Hinata tried to catch up to Kageyama so they could walk to class together but that just turned into another race which Hinata won. He was also the first one to be scolded by a teacher. Which also counted as a win as far as Hinata was concerned.

During their free period, Hinata mentioned that he was going to be eating with Suga and Kageyama looked like his feelings were a little hurt. And by feelings hurt, Hinata thought that Kageyama looked angry. And creepy.

“But we eat together all the time.”

“I-I know… it’s only for today…”

Kageyama only looked away and didn’t say anything.

“You wouldn’t even want to hear what we’re talking about anyway…” Hinata said.

Kageyama glared at him, challenging him.

Hinata sighed. “It’s… about Oikawa… okay?”

Kageyama made a variety of especially creepy expressions all translating to disgust and turned away from him again.

“Okay… maybe you’re right,” Kageyama bit out.

“We’ll have lunch together tomorrow,” Hinata said. “And we can ask Suga to join us if you want.”

That seemed to satisfy Kageyama for awhile.

When lunch time rolled around, Sugawara showed up outside Hinata’s classroom. Hinata quickly grabbed his bag and waved goodbye at Kageyama and bounced over to Suga.

“Ready?” Suga asked, holding a bento box of their own.

“Yeah!” Hinata said.

They decided to sit outside, since it was a beautiful day. They chose a shady spot near the back of the building. It was fairly secluded and no one really ate lunch back there.

Suga had already opened up their lunch and was about to ask Hinata about this new maybe-crush when Hinata squawked. He was rifling through his bag frantically.

“What is it, Hinata?” Suga asked.

“Ah! I don’t think! I mean, I might have forgotten my lunch at home?”

Hinata groaned and let the back of his head hit the wall he and Suga were sitting up against. “I can’t believe I’m this dumb. I was in such a rush this morning. My mom probably called me to come back and get it! Ugh, I’m such an idiot!”

“Do you have any money to buy something?”

Hinata reached into his pocket and pulled out a single 100 yen piece.

“Well, here we can share,” Suga said.

“Huh? No, Suga-san! You shouldn’t! I mean, just because of my being a knucklehead doesn’t mean you should have to sacrifice some of your lunch.”

Suga laughed. “It’s okay, Hinata. I promise. Here, you can have these rice balls. I don’t know why but Daichi always makes me all these different kinds of rice balls whenever he makes me lunch. I told him I like ones with salmon in it but he just continues to make plum and tuna. So you can have those if you want.”

Hinata stared at them in wonder. “The captain makes you lunch?”

Suga nodded. “For awhile, he expected me to make him lunch. But once he realized I couldn’t cook, he started making me lunch.”

Suga chuckled and then told Hinata how at first, Daichi had tried to save their feelings by eating their poorly cooked homemade lunches and turning green in the process. Suga knew how terrible those lunches were and wondered how long Daichi would keep up the act. So Suga tried to expedite the process by trying to make the most complicated recipes they could find. Daichi would force a smile and tell Suga through gritted teeth how delicious the meal was. It was eventually Suga who had to refuse making Daichi any more meals because of just how sick Daichi looked.

“Now I get to taste Daichi’s cooking everyday,” Suga said.

“Woooaaaahh! It must be nice being a lovey-dovey couple like that!” Hinata said. It was only after Hinata said it that he realized what he had said. He clamped a hand over his mouth and glanced sideways at Suga.

Suga just blushed and scratched the back of their head. “W-well, we’re not here to talk about Daichi and me… We’re here to talk about you and… um… Who’s the lucky person again?”

“Um…”

“Hinata!”

Suga and Hinata both looked up to see Kageyama trotting toward them.

“Did you forget your lunch, dumbass?” Kageyama demanded.

“Uh! How?!”

“Takeda-sensei came to our class looking for you. He said someone is here to drop off your lunch.”

“Ah! It must be Mama!” Hinata said. And now he felt ten times more guilty. Mama probably had to come from work to bring him his lunch. She must be missing her own lunch break to bring him his lunch.

“I’m sorry, Suga-san. I should go get my lunch.”

“That’s alright, Hinata. I’m glad you’ll be able to eat a full lunch. Especially since you missed breakfast this morning. Would you like me to come with you?”

“Ah, sure! You can meet my mom! I feel like you two would get along great!”

Suga grinned. “Wonderful, let’s go.”

Hinata and Suga made their way to the main office. Kageyama said he wanted to go back to the classroom and eat since he’d been rudely interrupted by a certain dumbass and he’s already met Hinata’s mother.

However, it wasn’t Hinata’s mom that was waiting for them at the front desk.

Hinata stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he opened the door. Suga was right behind him and Hinata probably wasn’t tall enough to block their view. So they both stood there and stared as Oikawa gave them both a wave.

“Yahoo~ Shou-chan~”

“Oi-Oikawa? What are you-?”

“Well, since Sleepyhead-chan forgot his lunch, Hana-san asked me to bring it here for you. So I did.”

Oikawa smiled at him and Hinata didn’t know if he could move. Luckily Suga could move and walked in front of Hinata toward Oikawa. They had a smile on that matched Oikawa’s in brightness.

“Hello, Oikawa-san. I don’t know if you remember me but my name’s-”

“Oh, don’t worry, Mr. Refreshing. I know exactly who you are. Sugawara Koushi. The poor upperclassman who got benched because of Tobio-chan, right?”

Suga kept smiling and said, “That’s right. But thank you for bringing Hinata’s lunch. We were worried he wouldn’t be able to make it through practice without passing out.”

Something flashed across Oikawa’s face. It was incredibly quick but it still made Oikawa’s smile falter just a bit.

Oikawa shifted his gaze from Suga to Hinata. “Shou-chan, you dummy, come over here and get your lunch.”

“N-No, I’m really okay! I-”

Oikawa cut him off, “No, don’t you give me that. Here.” Oikawa marched over to Hinata and deposited the bento box into Hinata’s hands. “I…” Oikawa started but quickly cut himself off. He looked away from Hinata and said in a soft voice, “I would’ve gotten here sooner. You just live too far away from this school. And there are all those mountain roads… And now I’m gonna have to climb back up the mountain to get back….”

“Oikawa… did you… you didn’t walk all the way out here did you?” Hinata asked. It practically took Hinata forever to ride his bike to school. He couldn’t imagine how long it would take for Oikawa to walk there.

Oikawa met Hinata’s eyes and smiled. “Of course not. I did run part of the way. See?”

Now that Hinata had a closer look, he saw that Oikawa did have jogging shorts on and a T-shirt slightly stained with sweat.

“It’s a pretty good workout. I gotta stay in shape even though technically my team’s still off for a few days.”

Hinata just stared blankly up at Oikawa. “You…”

Oikawa just grinned. Hinata felt warm in the face and tried to stop it. All he could do was turn his face down.

“Th-thank you…”

“Oh, no need to thank me, Shou-chan. But if you want you can thank me later~”

Hinata’s head snapped up. “WH-!”

“You can just give me a big ol’ kiss when you get home, okay?”

Hinata opened his mouth to tell Oikawa that what he requested was impossible but all that came out was a distressed scream.

Oikawa just skipped away, while saying over his shoulder, “Bye-bye, Shou-chan. Bye-bye, Mr. Refreshing.”

Hinata’s hands shook around his bento box. He tried to figure out if he was livid or embarrassed or a combination of the two. When he made the mistake of glancing at Suga, he settled on embarrassed. Extremely embarrassed. The kind that makes you want to go out into the woods and live alone for the rest of your life.

Suga just stared at Hinata like they couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“S-Suga-san… I…” Hinata tried to explain. He glanced around, but his nervousness only got worse when he realized some of the secretaries at the front desk were looking at him as well. One even tried to suppress a laugh.

Suga seemed to snap out of it then.

“Well, let’s go find someplace so you can eat your lunch.”

They ended up walking back to their original spot since everywhere else was still too crowded.

The walk was completely silent between the two of them. Hinata thought that it meant Suga was angry. He hadn’t seen them angry a whole lot. He wondered what Suga was going to do to him and suddenly he felt sick.

Once they got back to their spot, Suga turned toward Hinata. They didn’t say anything but Hinata could tell that they probably wanted to know why Oikawa had dropped off his lunch. So Hinata went through the task of explaining yet again how Oikawa ended up staying at his house. It had a lot of stops and starts and he stuttered over his words and he left out parts like Oikawa’s reasons for wanting to stay with him out of all the people he could stay with. And the parts where Oikawa kissed him and told him that he liked him.

When Hinata was finished, Suga just pondered it.

“So… he’s the one you have a crush on?” Suga asked.

Why was everyone being so blunt? Couldn’t they possibly put it any more delicately? Hinata didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

“N-No! I mean! I… I don’t know! I … he…. he-”

To Hinata’s surprise, Suga grinned. Then they started laughing.

Hinata quirked an eyebrow. He was glad though that Suga wasn’t mad.

“S-Suga-san?”

“S-Sorry. Sorry, Hinata, I just…” Suga could hardly speak between giggles. “I’m not laughing at you…. just… did you see his face when I mentioned you almost passed out at practice?”

Hinata just remembered Oikawa’s attention being turned to him. That was overwhelming in and of itself. He didn’t really register anything else really.

“Um…”

Suga wiped the tears from their eyes as they calmed down. “If you had told me, Oikawa was the person you thought you had feelings for before I saw that, I’d probably gently advise you against pursuing anything with him. But that! That was precious!”

Hinata’s whole body was probably on fire. Or he was very near spontaneously combusting.

Hinata didn’t know what expression he had on his face but when Suga looked at him, that just set them off on another wave of laughter.

“And people call Daichi and me a married couple!” That just spurred them on to laugh harder.

Hinata waited for Suga to settle down before saying anything.

“I…. So do I like Oikawa?” Hinata asked.

Suga sobered up at the question but still kept a smile on their face. “Well, do you think you like him?”

“I don’t know! That’s why I asked you!”

Suga just snorted and ruffled Hinata’s hair. “Like I said last night. It’s hard to explain. Liking someone can mean a whole lot of different things. Sometimes you get nervous around them and sometimes you feel more comfortable around them than anyone else in the world. Sometimes they get on your nerves so much you think you might want to strangle them but then sometimes you think they’re incredibly cute and you wouldn’t imagine doing a darn thing to hurt them. Sometimes they make your heart beat faster with excitement but then other times you’d rather just go to sleep cuddled up next to them. But I think the most important thing is that they make you like yourself. Not because they like you but because you like yourself around them more. Does Oikawa make you feel like that, Hinata?”

Hinata tried to think about how exactly Oikawa made him feel about himself. He didn’t know if Oikawa made him feel anything about himself. All Hinata had really been feeling or doing is reacting to how Oikawa showed his apparent love for him. He didn’t know if he would get a better handle on his feelings if he got more introspective when Oikawa did stuff like that.

“I don’t know…” Hinata admitted.

Suga sighed, ruefully. “Maybe, I’m just making this more complicated than it is. I tend to do that. But next time you’re with Oikawa, think about how he makes you feel. If the overall, effect is good and you feel safe around him, I’d say you like him. Especially if he flirts as hard as he was in the office. But if you just feel nervous and on edge all the time, then that’s probably not liking him. Does that make a little more sense?”

Hinata considered it. It would definitely be easier to figure out if he liked being around Oikawa more than if he liked himself more from being around Oikawa.

He nodded.

Suga grinned. “Good.” Then they checked their watch, and their eyes widened.

“Uh, Hinata. I’ve been talking your ear off, and you haven’t even gotten to eat your lunch. We still have a few minutes before classes start. Go ahead and eat.”

Hinata could definitely do that.

“Okayy!” And Hinata happily dug into his lunch.

====================

Afternoon practice was a lot easier since he had a full stomach to work off of. He was surprised when Coach Ukai had extra energy bars and sports drinks for all the team members when they took their breaks.

Takeda-sensei had teased him about it. “I knew you were just a big softie.”

Ukai scoffed. “Nah, I just don’t want any of these knuckleheads fainting on me.”

“S-Sorry, Coach! I promise I won’t skip breakfast again!” Hinata all but shouted.

Ukai clicked his tongue but told him not to worry about it.

After practice, while everyone was helping to clean up, Hinata was collecting all the scattered volleyballs when he heard whispers from the third and second years.

“What’s he doing outside?”

“I swear, if he’s here for Shouyou again, I’m gonna-”

“What do you mean? He’s here for Hinata?”

A pit was forming in Hinata’s stomach. But at the same time, he felt excited.

Hinata pushed the volleyball carts to the gym closet and decided to not hang around.

He walked to the front entrance where the upperclassmen were all still talking. They stopped once they realized Hinata was there.

Daichi looked him over.

“Oikawa’s staying at your house?” he said without flinching.

“Yes.”

Daichi sighed. “Well, that’s certainly something I never thought I’d be asking.”

Hinata blinked. “Y-You’re not mad?”

Daichi raised an eyebrow. “Why would I be? Oikawa’s the worst when going up against him in a match but outside that I don’t have a problem with him. If you guys are friends, it’s none of my business. Just-”

There was a girlish squeal outside.

Everyone jumped. Except Noya and Tanaka who just looked murderous.

Daichi rubbed his temples. “Just… if he’s gonna be picking you up after practice, you might want to tell him to wait outside the gates. Since our match with Aoba Jousai, some of the girls from our high school have started their very own Oikawa Fan Club. So… be careful with that…”

Hinata hopped up to the windows and clung to the side as he tried to get a glimpse of what was happening. Sure enough, a cluster of girls from his school were surrounding a very tall by comparison Oikawa with a big red fluffy thing on his back? Wait, that wasn’t a big red fluffy thing.

“He brought Natsu?!” Hinata shouted.

“Who’s Natsu?” Tsukishima asked. “She’s not your girlfriend, is she?”

Yamaguchi snickered.

“She’s my sister!” Hinata yelled back.

Hinata hopped off the window ledge and grabbed his things. “Is the club room open?” Hinata asked.

“Here,” Suga said. Hinata looked up in time to catch whatever Suga had tossed to him. When Hinata looked down, he held the keys to the clubroom.

“Just leave them on the shelf. We’ll be right behind you,” Suga said.

“Thanks, Suga-san!” Hinata said. “Good work today, everybody!”

A chorus of “Good work today” followed him out of the gym.

He also decided to call out to Kageyama that this still counted toward his overall wins since he was gonna make it up to the clubroom first. Kageyama, who was currently taking down the net, couldn’t do anything but squawk at him.

He ran up to the club room. He decided he’d rather not get between Oikawa and his fangirls just yet. He wanted to get dressed first. And probably put on more deodorant. Hinata checked to see if he needed any by sticking his nose in his arm pits. Yeah, no. Definitely needed deodorant.

He quickly changed and made sure to put on ample amounts of deodorant. Just to be sure.

He raced back down to where Oikawa and Natsu were waiting for him. Hinata was warmed to hear some of the girls gushing about how cute Natsu was.

“Her hairstyle is so cute! Oikawa-san, don’t tell me you did that for her?” one of the girls asked.

“Of course! It’s what a good big brother does. Right, Natsu-chan?”

Natsu seemed to be thriving in the attention and said, “Yep. But Shou-niichan is better. He doesn’t hurt my head when he brushes it!”

Oikawa pouted. “Natsu-chan, can’t you pretend that I’m the better Niichan? Even for a little bit?”

Natsu pouted at him in return. “Nope!”

Hinata waltzed over, quite proud of himself. When Oikawa looked up to see him, Hinata greeted him by sticking out his tongue. Oikawa looked as if he had just sucked on a lemon. Hinata laughed.

“Oniichan!” Natsu exclaimed when she saw him.

“Natsu! Did you come all the way out here to greet me?”

When Hinata got close enough, Natsu made grabby hands at him. Hinata gently picked her up from Oikawa’s back and placed her to sit on his shoulders.

“Hmm… I can see more stuff on Tooru-niichan…” Natsu murmured mostly to herself. Hinata squawked. Oikawa laughed. The girls cooed.

“Hinata-kun, you didn’t tell us that you and Oikawa-san are related?”

“Uh… w-we’re not.” Hinata suddenly realized there were girls he knew from his class that had crowded around Oikawa.

Another girl huffed. “Of course, they’re not related. Their family names are different.”

“Maybe not by blood,” Oikawa announced, “but our hearts are linked together in a bond tighter than- UGHE!”

Hinata had violently jammed his heel into Oikawa’s foot.

“S-Stop right th-there! O-OR I”LL-!” Hinata didn’t know what Oikawa had been expecting. Talking about embarrassing things like that in front of all of these girls. Girls, that Hinata would have liked to remind him, he had to have classes with daily.

The threat died on his lips when Oikawa let out a pained whimper.

“Sh-Shit, Oikawa! Are you okay?”

Natsu gasped. “Niichan said a naughty word!”

“Natsu, not right now!”

The girls looked worriedly between the two of them. Oikawa quickly recovered though and gave them all a winning smile.

“Are you going to be alright, Oikawa-san?” one of the girls asked.

Hinata couldn’t help but also be invested in the answer.

“It’s really okay, ladies,” Oikawa stuttered out. “I was just teasing him. Even though, I know by now I probably shouldn’t.”

“Well, fu...fudge, Oikawa, you can tease me but just…. not in front of… all these people…”

Oikawa’s eyes lit up. “I’ll hold you to that, Shorty~”

Hinata couldn’t help but return the smile Oikawa directed at him.

“Oniichan still said a bad word. I’m telling Mama!”

“Natsu!”

Oikawa laughed and said, “Oooooohhh! Shou-chan’s gonna get in trooouuuble!”

He even used that annoying sing-song voice middle schoolers use.

“F… Fudge you, Oikawa…”

“Don’t worry, Shou-chan. You can fudge me later all you want~”

Hinata was tired from practice, sure. But that didn’t keep him from chasing Oikawa all the way home with Natsu riding piggy back on him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata's getting frustrated. Kageyama is grossed out by romance. Suga is there to help everyone out. Oikawa's motivations still remain clear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, guys! I am so sorry that I've taken so long with this update?? Thank you all for being patient with me and also thank you to everyone who left me nice comments and gave me kudos and subscribed and bookmarked and all that good stuff! It's hard to find motivation without it and just know that I take every nice thing you guys say to heart so just thank you so much for supporting me and this fic! I hope you guys like this chapter. It's a little slow and if you haven't guessed by this point I'm pantsing my way through this entire fic so sometimes I don't know where we're going and I'm along for the ride just as much as you guys are! Hopefully it's a good one. Okay I'm talking too much so let's get this show on the road then!! Enjoy~
> 
> Also!!! Kageyama and Hinata use the Q slur in this chapter! It's not thrown around as an insult just as what a character identifies as. Just a heads up if you're not comfortable with that word!

Hinata had to take another shower because of the long run back. However, both of them gave up the running after a while and just decided to walk home. They were both incredibly sweaty and at one point in time Natsu insisted on walking back by herself because she thought the two of them were smelly.

After Hinata’s bath, he waited in his room for Oikawa to finish. He had thought really hard about what Suga had said and decided he should just spend time with Oikawa. Not with Natsu or Mama or anyone else around.

He’d kind of been doing that but not to the degree he’s sort of wanted to. He didn’t want this strange pressure in the air. Like something needed to happen. He just wanted to hang out with Oikawa.

When Oikawa returned from the bath, he only had a pair of boxers on and was drying off his hair with one of Hinata’s towels.

Either Oikawa hadn’t gotten to his chest area or he was really bad at drying himself there. Water droplets still clung to his chest and before Hinata could catch himself he watched one trail down from his collarbone to his sternum.

“-chan…Shou-chan! Shrimpy!”

Hinata’s head snapped up and looked Oikawa in the eyes. He immediately regretted it because of the intense gaze Oikawa was giving him.

“I can’t say anything witty with you spacing out like that. Who’s going to appreciate my sense of humor?” Oikawa said, not dropping his gaze in the slightest.

“S-Sorry…. I just…”

“It’s okay, Shou-chan. Look for as long as you like.” Oikawa had the gall to wink at him.

“Put your damn shirt on!” Hinata screeched.

Oikawa pouted. “Oh, come on, Shou-chan. You didn’t even get a good look at my back muscles. Here-”

Hinata threw a pillow at him. He really hadn’t been aiming but it had unfortunately hit Oikawa right in the face. When the pillow dropped, Oikawa’s expression had changed drastically. It had gone from light and teasing to murderous.

“Didn’t you realize I was in the middle of speaking? Huh?” Oikawa asked.

“You don’t scare me! You wear alien PJs to bed!” Hinata shot back.

Oikawa grabbed the pillow and quicker than Hinata could react flung it straight at Hinata’s face.

The actual impact didn’t hurt him at all. However the snap of his head when the pillow hit him did hurt a little.

“Now are you afraid of me, Shrimpy?” Oikawa asked.

“No! Come over here and fight me, you alien otaku!”

“Oh, it’s a fight you want, huh, Shrimpy?” Oikawa demanded. His glare shifted from irate to lecherous. Hinata didn’t have much time to prepare himself before Oikawa launched himself across the room and on top of him. It sounded more spectacular than it was. Hinata’s room was tiny after all and Oikawa must do a lot of leg muscle building exercises if the wonderful definition in his quads was anything to go by.

Hinata had been laying on his back in his bed. Oikawa, in one swift motion, had grabbed both of his wrists in one of his gigantic hands and pinned them above Hinata’s head. Before Oikawa could pin down his legs though, Hinata pulled them up to his chest and began pushing at Oikawa’s chest with his feet. Oikawa was momentarily distracted and let the grip on Hinata’s wrists loosen just enough for Hinata to bat his hand away.

He rolled backwards over his shoulder, careful not to kick Oikawa in the face (even though he may or may not have deserved it) until he was crouched on all fours on his bed. That was when Hinata tackled him. They both went tumbling off the bed and Oikawa was caught so much by surprise that Hinata was able to use all of his strength and pin him down. By sitting on his stomach.

“That was fun, huh, Tooru-kun?” Hinata smiled sweetly at Oikawa.

It had the desired effect of making Oikawa forget about any plans to retaliate. Hinata wondered when it was that he started getting so crafty. He snickered.

“Well, you have well and truly beaten me, Shou-chan. So claim your prize.”

“Prize? What prize?”

“A prize for the winner. Anything you want. I’d hope that it would be something within my power to give but since you’re so cute I would consider attempting just about anything.”

“D-Don’t! Don’t call me cute!”

“Is that your prize?”

“What? No!”

“Then I will continue calling you cute. My cute little Shou-chan~”

Hinata hopped off of Oikawa faster than anything after that.

“M-maybe that should be my prize…” Hinata mumbled to himself.

“What was that?”

“Nothing! Just… What can I ask for…?”

“Anything, Shou-chan. I’m not exaggerating when I say, I’m truly prepared to do just about anything for you… Except throw a match…. And maybe not murder…. Actually anything illegal. But besides that, I will do my utmost to make you happy!”

Hinata brought his knees up to his chest and hid his face in them. His face was hot and his heart was going about a mile a minute.

He tried to calm down but also tried to figure out if this was a good feeling.

If Oikawa wasn’t there then he’d be pretty sure what he was feeling was close to a heart attack. Or a panic attack. But Oikawa was there. He was making him excited for… something. For what?

He couldn’t say it was a bad feeling, though.

“Oikawa?”

“Hmm?”

“F-for my prize…. c-could we… um…”

Hinata chanced a glance at Oikawa. He had sat up and was casually sitting with one knee bent and the other stretched out. His hands folded perfectly on his lap like he was a grade schooler trying to convince the teacher that he was a perfectly well behaved student.

“‘Could we’ what, Shou-chan?”

“T… Tomorrow… could we… go….” Hinata tried to think of something. Somewhere he wanted to go with Oikawa. Not a place where they could be spotted by his teammates…. or worse! Oikawa’s teammates! 

Hinata must have sat there and thought for a good couple of minutes. In the back of his head, he expected Oikawa to start saying something smart or snarky. But whenever Hinata furtively glanced at him, he only saw patience. Oikawa was staring at him intently and only offered him a genuinely comforting smile. Slowly and little by little, it helped Hinata dislodge whatever was gunking up his throat so he could speak.

“Oikawa, tomorrow… could we go into town? And… um… I needed to go… shopping…”

Without dropping his smile, Oikawa’s eyes widened then went back to being slightly crinkled.

“You want to go shopping with me tomorrow?” Oikawa asked slowly. He was still smiling.

“Uh… yeah… if you don’t want to that’s-”

“NO!” Oikawa interrupted Hinata. His eyes wide again. He seemed to catch himself then though and cleared his throat and set his features back to a normal expression. “Uh, no, Shou-chan. I do. I want to go.”

“O-oh… Okay.” Hinata said. He licked his lips. “Um… i-it’s not… it’s not a date… or anything. Okay?”

“Of course. Yes. Obviously.” He still had on that same smile. It didn’t even seem like he even registered what Hinata had said. He seemed a little distant. Happy, but distant.

“Okay… Hey, Oikawa?” Hinata asked.

“Yes, Shou-chan?”

“Put a fucking shirt on.”

======================================

School the next day seemed to drag on. It felt like each minute Hinata stared at the clock it made the hands move that much slower. The teachers still called on him to answer some questions. Even though he had zero clue what they were talking about. He was able to come up with some kind of answer to a geometry question though. It was still wrong but it wasn’t so wrong that it didn’t seem like he wasn’t paying attention at all. And no one laughed at him for the answer. So there’s that.

Kageyama glared at him most of the day. He didn’t understand why.

When they had lunch, Suga joined them. Hinata asked why Kageyama kept glaring at him all day and Kageyama just continued to glare.

“Kageyama, he wasn’t insulting you. He probably really wants to know,” Suga pointed out.

Kageyama glanced at them. A totally non-glare glance. More considering than anything. Hinata wondered if he was the only one that Kageyama glared at besides Tsukishima.

“You’ve been distracted all day,” is what Kageyama says to Hinata.

Hinata rolled his eyes. “Yeah?”

“Why?”

Hinata was genuinely taken aback by this question. “Oikawa was walking around my room without a shirt on last night? Why wouldn’t I be distracted?”

When Hinata had started this sentence, Suga was taking a sip from their water bottle. By the time he finished his sentence, Suga was choking. Hinata also realized about the same time water was coming out of Suga’s nose how he must have sounded. Like a horny gay young man. Which wasn’t exactly wrong.

Hinata slapped them a few times on the back. Once they recovered, Suga’s shoulders were shaking with laughter.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Suga said. “Just… I can’t believe Oikawa is coming off that strong.”

Kageyama just looked like he ate something sour.

“I don’t think I needed to know that…” Kageyama mumbled to himself.

“Well, then you shouldn’t have asked!” Hinata shot back.

“Just make sure you’re not distracted for practice,” Kageyama added.

“Of course I wouldn’t be,” Hinata said.

Suga took another sip from their water bottle before speaking.

“I’m sure Hinata knows when to be distracted, Kageyama. And besides if I had an attractive setter from an opposing team waltzing around shirtless in my house, I’d also be very distracted.” Suga shot a grin at Hinata.

Hinata’s not blushing. You’re blushing.

“N-No you wouldn’t be! You only have eyes for the captain!” Hinata shouted.

It was Kageyama’s turn to choke on his drink. But Hinata couldn’t believe that this came as any surprise to him.

“What?” Kageyama demanded.

Suga covered as much of their face with one hand as they could. It didn’t stop Hinata and Kageyama seeing the light pink that peeked out from behind their hand.

“W-We’re not… I mean… You don’t have to say it like that…” Suga stammered.

Kageyama looked like someone had just told him Santa Claus wasn’t real for the first time.

“You okay, Kageyama? Kageyama?”

Kageyama’s stare was fixed on Suga. Suga didn’t meet either of their eyes. Hinata might have just shoved his foot so far in his mouth that there was no redemption for him ever.

Kageyama snapped out of it soon, however. After that he wolfed down his lunch and excused himself with a clipped, “I’m gonna practice serves.”

After he left, Hinata and Suga just stared at each other. 

Hinata was eventually able to pull together an apology. He felt terrible. Suga tried to reassure him that it wasn’t such a big deal. But it was. He didn’t expect Kageyama to react like that. When Hinata had mentioned in passing unassumingly that he sometimes found guys attractive, all Kageyama would do was wrinkle his nose for a minute. Then his face would go back to normal. Well, as normal as Kageyama’s face could get. He didn’t expect Kageyama to react like that with Suga.

Hinata would have to talk to him later. Hinata articulated this loudly with wild gesticulations. Suga tried to tell him there wasn’t a need for it. The hurt smile struggling to keep itself on Suga’s face only motivated him more.

================================

After afternoon practice, Hinata mustered up all of his courage and threw a volleyball at the back of Kageyama’s head.

“You’re so dumb, Kageyama! Bakageyama!”

The door to hell seemed to open up behind Kageyama’s eyes as he glared at Hinata.

Hinata vaguely heard Daichi tell them to calm down and maybe not fight here. Kageyama seemed to take the advice at least the tiniest bit to heart. He grabbed Hinata by the shoulder and dragged him outside.

They only just made it outside when Hinata felt his back hit the wall. Kageyama towered over him and he only looked slightly less like he was going to murder him.

“What’s your problem?” Kageyama demanded.

“Are you queerphobic or something, Kageyama?”

“Obviously I’m not if I hang out with you!”

“Then why did you act all weird when you found out Suga and Daichi were dating?”

Kageyama got really quiet after that.

“I… I don’t. I don’t know…” Kageyama said.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I just don’t!” He spit his words at Hinata.

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t get so fucking mad if you don’t know why! You really hurt Suga’s feelings, okay?”

Kageyama flinched. The hand that had been clenched in Hinata’s collar loosened.

“And they won’t make a big deal about it because it’s Suga! And Suga is awesome! But! Maybe you shouldn’t be mad for stupid reasons that even you don’t even know?”

“Don’t you think I’ve thought of that?!” Kageyama fisted Hinata’s collar again and Hinata knew that in the next few seconds Kageyama was either gonna throw him or shake him.

“Tobio-chan~”

They both stopped and looked around to see Oikawa standing there.

“Oniichan! Tobio-niichan! Why are you guys fighting?”

Natsu was perched on Oikawa’s shoulders again. Oikawa’s eyes were empty but his smile was terrifying.

“Oi-Oikawa!” Hinata gasped. He realized what this might look like. But literally all of Kageyama’s and his arguments are like this. He wasn’t in any real danger but by the look on Oikawa’s face, Hinata surmised he needed to diffuse the situation before heads started rolling.

“Oikawa-san…” Kageyama acknowledged Oikawa with a nod of his head. He didn’t let up on the death grip he had on Hinata’s collar though.

“Mind telling me what’s going on right now?” Oikawa asked.

“It’s not really any of your business, Oikawa-san.” Kageyama calmly replied.

Oikawa’s hands were currently holding Natsu’s legs while she sat on his shoulders. He wasn’t squeezing them but they shook. The look on Oikawa’s face was enough, however, to glean how much Oikawa didn’t like that answer.

“Are you going to hurt Shou-chan?” he asked, not as smoothly as he probably would have liked.

“Probably,” Kageyama said.

Hinata slapped his forehead. This really wasn’t the time.

“Then it’s my business, Tobio-chan,” Oikawa said.

Kageyama shot a withering glare at Oikawa. Clearly, he didn’t believe a thing the other just said.

Kageyama turned back to Hinata and said, “Tell him to leave.”

“Oikawa-” Hinata started to say.

“Sorry, Shou-chan. While coming from you, it’s still the King’s orders. Am I right? And I don’t particularly feel like being a loyal subject today.”

If Kageyama’s face was cold before, it was stony now.

“Don’t call me that,” Kageyama hissed.

“Or what? You’ll teach me a lesson? Quite frankly, Tobio-chan, I’d love to see you try.”

Hinata actually felt a strange sense of frustration for Kageyama. Here he was minding his own business, hashing things out with his friend when some know-it-all King comes barging in and sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.

He probably would have been more annoyed if he didn’t know where Oikawa’s weird sense of chivalry was coming from…. Dammit, now he was probably blushing.

He glanced at Natsu. She didn’t seem scared only worried. When she glanced at him, she must have taken that as a plea for help instead of just to check to see if she’s okay. 

“Please don’t hurt Oniichan, Tobio-niichan,” Natsu said, without even batting an eye. “I’ll make you a drawing if you don’t.”

Kageyama considered it. Then nodded. He let go of Hinata.

Oikawa’s mouth hung open.

Hinata snickered. He slapped Kageyama on the back and said, “Uh-oh, Kageyama’s got a soft spot after all.”

“Shut up. Natsu’s just a really good artist,” Kageyama said plainly.

Natsu puffed out her chest in pride. “I’ll work on it tonight. What would you like?”

“A volleyball,” Kageyama said unsurprisingly.

Natsu gave Kageyama a thumbs up which Kageyama returned with a stoneface.

Kageyama was about to leave when Hinata grabbed him by the arm.

“Go talk to Suga.”

Kageyama pursed his lips before he nodded. He then turned and wandered back to the clubhouse, presumably to get changed. Hinata figured he should tag along. He was about to tell Oikawa and Natsu as much when he caught a glance at Oikawa’s face. It was a strange mix of embarrassment, confusion, and rage.

Hinata laughed. “What’s with that face?! You look like you’re constipated!” Hinata slapped his knee as he laughed harder.

Even Natsu started laughing uncontrollably.

“Sh-Shut up! You so don’t look cute when you laugh like that! You should stop!”

That retort didn’t exactly have the desired effect on Hinata. In fact, he would say that it had the opposite.

“Who’s not cute!? Seriously you look like this!” Hinata screwed his face into a grotesque mime of straining on the toilet. Oikawa didn’t really appreciate it.

“Go get changed!” Oikawa ordered. He was covering his face with one hand.

Hinata couldn’t help but snort as he walked away.

When he got to the clubroom, he walked into Kageyama bowing at the waist toward a very flustered Suga.

“Please, Kageyama. This isn’t really necessary,” they were saying.

“Y-Yes it is! E-even I can see that!” Kageyama persisted.

Hinata wondered whether or not it would be okay to go home in his sweaty practice gear, when Suga caught sight of him.

“H-Hinata!” Suga exclaimed. “Did you put him up to this?”

“Wha-?”

“No, he didn’t!” Kageyama quickly cut in. “He did make me realize that apologies were in order though. I… I’m not… that is… It’s not that… you and the captain are...q… you’re dating… and you both have… I mean…. UGH!”

Hinata has never seen Kageyama turn such a brilliant shade of red.

Suga sighed but smiled. “It’s okay, Kageyama. I think I get it. Correct me if I’m wrong but it’s not the fact that we’re queer that makes you uncomfortable. It’s just the whole relationship thing, right? You don’t know how to react to that?”

Kageyama froze. Then nodded as if his head and neck were suspended by strings someone else was pulling on.

Suga grinned at him reassuringly. “Then that’s fine. It’s a strange thing after all. Hinata realized this first hand, didn’t you, Hinata?”

Hinata didn’t want to dignify this with a response. Not that he could when he tried. All that came out were half-formed thoughts and words. The heat in his face was too much.

Suga turned to Kageyama and said, “See?”

Kageyama shuddered. “Sounds weird.”

Suga patted him on the shoulder and said, “Well, maybe one day it won’t be. Or you’ll still think it’s weird even when you’re really really old. Either way is fine. Just remember, you generally want to be happy for someone when they tell you they’re in a relationship. And if you don’t want to hear anymore about it, then that’s fine too. Just be sure to tell them.”

Kageyama considered this. Then nodded. He then turned to Hinata and said with the blankest face Hinata had ever seen on him and said, “Congratulations on your relationship with Oikawa-san. I will be… supportive. But I don’t want to hear anything about it. Anything.”

Hinata felt his face grow white hot and the next thing he realized he had headbutted Kageyama and the setter’s nose was bleeding.

==========================================

Oikawa was laughing hysterically. 

“H-He’s fine… but now you have to draw him another volleyball, Natsu…. Sorry about that.”

Natsu shrugged as she colored in her current masterpiece with a pink crayon the nice waitress had given her. Apparently this family restaurant kept crayons and coloring books on hand for the kids when they were waiting for their meal. Instead of working on the coloring books, Natsu was coloring away at her own sketchbook.

Oikawa was still snickering into his hand.

“So do all of your arguments go like that?”

“Yeah… well most of the time I annoy him and then he kind of picks me up and throws me? I always land on my feet though.”

“Are you a cat?”

“Jury’s still out. Although by the way I fly through the air, experts believe I am some kind of bird human hybrid.”

Oikawa laughed. Hinata felt proud of himself.

“Still, I would have paid money to see you headbutt Tobio-chan! Oh, I’m so sad I had the decency to wait outside while you changed! I guess that’s what I get for being nice.”

Hinata blew his paper straw holder right at Oikawa’s face. It didn’t perturb Oikawa as much as Hinata would have hoped but he definitely got that stupid smirk to drop just a little bit.

“You suck!” Hinata mouthed at Oikawa.

“Anywhere, anytime, Shou-chan~” Oikawa said outloud.

Hinata just rolled his eyes. He still couldn’t believe Oikawa’s bold-faced aggressive flirting sometimes, but he found that he was kind of getting more used to it. He didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing.

“Anyway, Shou-chan, what exactly did you want to shop for?” Oikawa asked, as the waitress came with their food. Hinata got a burger and fries while Natsu got the kids’ chicken nuggets and fries. Oikawa got a fucking salad of all things.

Hinata caught Oikawa winking at the waitress who blushed prettily and smiled. She quickly walked away and almost ran into another waiter. Hinata hadn’t realized he was staring until Oikawa caught his eyes and quirked an eyebrow.

“Jealous, Shou-chan? You know my heart only belongs to yo-OWCH!” Hinata thinks he liked Oikawa’s annoyed face better than his stupid sexy smirk. It was worth his slightly stubbed foot.

“Don’t say embarrassing things like that in public,” Hinata said evenly, but surreptitiously glanced at Natsu.

“What about when we’re alone?” Oikawa asked.

Hinata huffed and rolled his eyes. He turned his attention to his food and picked at a few fries. “Like we’re ever alone anyway…” he mumbled.

It really wasn’t meant to be heard by anyone. Hinata was even slightly surprised that he had not only said it but meant it. But when Hinata glanced up at Oikawa again, Oikawa had the stupidest grin on his face. If someone were to ask Hinata what he thought pleasantly surprised looked like, he would have just pointed to Oikawa’s face at that moment.

“Oh? Shou-chan’s so cute when you’re all pouty! So… ‘alone time’, huh?” Oikawa had the nerve to wiggle an eyebrow at him.

“Sh-Shut up, Oikawa! Th-That’s not what I meant!”

Hinata would keep glancing over at Natsu who didn’t seem to be listening. She kept drawing her little volleyballs that had little princess crowns on them. And that was A-Okay with Hinata.

“What did you mean then?” Oikawa pressed. Hinata gasped when something warm and rough was placed on his hand. He looked and of course it was Oikawa’s hand. What else could it be really? That didn’t stop Hinata from jumping a little and wrenching his hand from underneath Oikawa’s.

“N-Not whatever you’re thinking!” Hinata exclaimed.

“What am I thinking?” Oikawa asked.

“S… Something… gross, probably.”

“Like what?”

“H-How should I know?”

“If you don’t know, then how do you know that whatever I’m thinking isn’t what you’re thinking?”

“Wh-What?”

Hinata didn’t know when but it seemed like Oikawa’s face had steadily been getting closer to his. Hinata’s brain apparently didn’t think this information was pertinent enough to have at the forefront of his concerns, however, and remained for the most part at the back of his head.

It was apparently only pertinent enough when Oikawa’s lips were right on top of his. A blink and then he was gone. Hinata didn’t even have time to pitch a fit because the waitress was over asking if everything was okay. Oikawa just smiled at her and nodded while Natsu talked adamantly for all of them. She said that everything was tasty and delicious. The waitress was glad to hear it. She hung around for probably a second too long and then skittered off. Oikawa didn’t glance at her once.

He and Hinata were too busy having a staring contest.

“Y-You shouldn’t do that…” Hinata said. He was surprised by how weak his voice sounded. Like he didn’t even have a voice box and all that came out was pronounced air.

“Kiss you? Or kiss you in public?” Oikawa asked. Hinata didn’t notice how breathless Oikawa was himself.

“K-Kiss me in public…” Hinata said.

Oikawa only nodded. 

Hinata then realized that Oikawa must have wanted to set him up in a weird Catch 22 but why wasn’t Oikawa gloating about it?

It suddenly seemed altogether too noisy and too quiet in this restaurant. They ate the rest of their dinner in relative silence except for Natsu who rambled on about her day with Oikawa to Hinata. Hinata listened as intently as he could. Oikawa only matter-of-factly added a few details to the story here or there.

When they were finished, they paid and exited the restaurant.

“So Shou-chan. Did you want to go shopping for something?” Oikawa asked.

“Um… not really today. I mean I guess I’m pretty tired today…” Hinata said.

Natsu bounced up and down and said, “That means we can go home and watch movies!”

“Y-Yep… Y-Yeah. Sounds good.” Hinata didn’t really feel like watching a movie. But maybe it’s exactly what he needed. He always looked forward to watching movies with Natsu. She had such funny questions for everything and watching movies with her was always an excuse to make extra special movie snacks. And Oikawa would be there. They wouldn’t be alone… but...

“Oniichan, what’s wrong?” Natsu asked.

“Nothing’s wrong!” Hinata said as loudly and as happily as he could. “I was only wondering what kind of movie we were gonna watch tonight! And of course what kind of snacks!”

He scooped her up in his arms and spun her around. Natsu’s giggling was contagious and Hinata was soon laughing as well. He put her on his shoulders and he challenged Oikawa to a race. Which he accepted, saying, “Natsu-chan, are you sure you want to be on the loser’s team? I’m clearly the faster runner!”

“Oniichan’s the fastest brother ever!” Natsu declared.

The race from town to the house was probably too far so instead they made the race from town to the mountain. There were a few close calls as they careened through town but ultimately Hinata and Natsu won. Hinata was jumping up and down and laughing.

“Oh! The Grand King can’t keep up! The Grand King is so slow!”

“So slow! So slow!” Natsu sang.

“Best two out of three!” Oikawa yelled.

They ended up running the whole way home. Yet again.

====================

Once they got home, Hinata and Natsu decided to pick out the perfect movie, which was lo and behold a Princess Movie. She did however have trouble choosing between the princess movie and an old Godzilla movie of all things.

Her job was to pop the movie in and find some blankets to snuggle up it. It had been another weirdly cool night.

Hinata’s job was to teach Oikawa the secret to the perfect movie snacks.

“Why can’t we just put in a bag of popcorn and call it a day?” Oikawa asked.

Hinata wasn’t sure if he liked his tone.

“Excuse me, but movie snacks are sacred rituals in this house. And if you don’t like it you can go and watch a movie by yourself.”

“Why are we even watching a movie? Don’t you have homework?”

“You sound like my mom…” Hinata gave Oikawa a withering glare.

Oikawa sighed then asked Hinata what he should do. Hinata gave him two bags of microwavable popcorn and told him to put it in the microwave.

“Why two? Wouldn’t one be enough?”

“What? But there’s three of us! That itty bitty bag isn’t going to cut it. We need two. Trust me.”

“Alright, alright.”

While Oikawa was busy with his job, Hinata brought out his secret weapons.

While he was bringing them out, Oikawa was staring at him like he had five heads. Hinata took joy in the fact that, once Oikawa tried his world famous popcorn snacks, that smirk would be wiped clean off his face.

When the popcorn was done, Oikawa took it out of the microwave. Hinata took one and told Oikawa to empty his into one of the big bowls Hinata had set up. And Hinata did the same.

That was when Hinata worked his magic! He melted peanut butter and chocolate chips together and poured it over one bowl and added a bunch of powdered sugar. He gave Oikawa a spoon and told him to stir. Next he worked on the other bowl by dumping in some parmesan cheese and garlic salt. He stirred that and hummed to himself a song he heard on the radio once.

To his surprise, Oikawa started humming along. Eventually it turned into a karaoke battle with spoons as makeshift microphones. Hinata liked to think he was winning even though Oikawa, of course had an amazing singing voice. Seriously, who did this guy think he was?

Natsu came in and asked if the snacks were ready yet. A quick check over their work found that yep! The snacks were ready.

They carried them over to the living room, where the startup screen for the movie looped over some major scenes and characters. They played the movie and Natsu was immediately sucked in.

Hinata and Oikawa were sitting on the small couch they had in front of their moderately sized TV. Natsu chose to sit on the floor with the two bowls of popcorn on either side of her. Hinata had gotten Oikawa and himself smaller bowls to hold their popcorn so they didn’t need to keep reaching down to grab any.

Oikawa had quickly learned that Hinata’s movie snack creations were amazing and had helped himself with multiple bowls all the while muttering, “Coach is gonna kill me… But this is so good.”

Hinata felt inexplicably pleased with himself.

As the movie went on, Hinata was surprised to realize that Oikawa loved princess movies. He knew the words to all the songs and sang along with Natsu. He even knew the prince’s part so he could sing harmony with Natsu. Natsu really enjoyed singing along with Oikawa it seemed. Since, apparently Natsu doesn’t think Hinata’s singing voice is up to snuff.

“You’re always too loud, Oniichan.”

“What? But that’s how people sing, right? Like… all the time?”

“Yeah, but they have a certain finesse to it. Unlike some people,” Oikawa had helpfully supplied.

Hinata had just taken a handful of popcorn from Oikawa and stuffed it into his mouth in retaliation. If he didn’t appreciate his singing voice then he didn’t deserve the wonderful popcorn that he had prepared.

The climax of the movie came. The prince was off to defeat the evil dragon-witch and save the day. It was around the time that the prince was making bold declarations of everlasting love, when Hinata felt Natsu slump back into his legs.

“Out like a light,” Oikawa murmured.

“And at the most exciting part, too.” Hinata shook his head.

Oikawa chuckled and popped one last popcorn kernel into his mouth.

Hinata would have happily watched the movie unperturbed until the very end. However, it seemed like Oikawa had different plans.

“Hey, Shou-chan?”

“Yeah?”

“What was Natsu talking about the other day? When she said I made you cry?”

Fuck.

Hinata scratched the back of his head.

“Just… something she made up probably.”

Oikawa shook his head. “She didn’t just make it up. Natsu-chan’s a very sweet girl. She wouldn’t have decided to just hate me from nothing. So she must have seen something or heard something?”

Hinata sighed. “It’s fine. Whatever it was… it’s fine now.”

“Shou-chan…” Obviously, Oikawa wasn’t going to accept that answer.

“Ugh, look.” Hinata shifted in his seat until he was directly facing Oikawa, careful so he didn’t accidentally jostle Natsu out of her peaceful slumber. Oikawa shifted so he was directly facing Hinata. They were directly facing each other. Hinata didn’t know that this would be so hard. Looking Oikawa in the face this up close and personal… was really personal.

“Just… you won. You won at Regionals… against us. It….” Hinata didn’t know why he was still getting worked up about this. He practiced ten times as hard everyday. He practiced until he was sore and even past that. He never let anyone else know how much he’s been practicing to catch up. He’d thought by now he made a decent amount of progress. His and Kageyama’s new quick was coming along smoothly. Well… as smoothly as it could go. He just…

“That tournament was the first time I was on an actual team. A team that loves volleyball as much as I do. I thought nothing could beat us. But you did….”

Hinata took a gulp of air before he continued.

“And I hated you for it. I hated myself for it even more. I just kept… I kept going over everything I did wrong. What if I had practiced more? What if I hadn’t wasted junior high just dreaming of being on a team? What if I had swallowed my pride after realizing Kageyama was on my team and just work with him? Could I have practiced more? Could I have gotten more? Could I have gotten just one point more? It’s-”

“Shou-chan.”

Oikawa had cut him off but Hinata wasn’t mad. There was something warm on his cheek. It was Oikawa’s hand.

Oikawa wasn’t smiling. He looked like he was really far away.

“Those kinds of thoughts eat at you. They aren’t easy to overcome.” He then smiled ruefully and said, “Sometimes I still think back to games. Important ones. There are certain moments my brain likes to remind me of, for some reason. Moments where I wasn’t fast enough or smart enough. It happens to every volleyball player out there, Shou-chan.”

Hinata stared at Oikawa. Unbelieving.

“But…” Oikawa went on, “There’s something important you need to remember. I had a hard time learning it but thankfully a good friend of mine… beat it into me, shall we say.”

Oikawa laughed a little and Hinata felt the tiniest bit warmed.

“There are five other players on the court with you, Shou-chan. It’s up to not only you but the other five players as a unit to win enough points to take a match. Any singular person’s victory or triumph is the team’s victory or triumph. Every loss is the team’s loss. It’s no use blaming yourself for a loss…”

Oikawa trailed off. He seemed to consider what to say next. He absently rubbed his thumb on Hinata’s cheek but didn’t really seem aware that he was doing it.

“And for what it’s worth, Shou-chan, you are an amazing player. You have work to do don’t get me wrong. Hell, we all do. But what you have right now is amazing, so please don’t think you drag your team down. If anything, you lead them forward.”

“Oikawa....” There was a long pause. Neither of them spoke. Hinata was too distracted by the thumb that still caressed his cheek.

“Th-There’s something else I should say…” Hinata stammered.

“What’s that?”

“I-I don’t hate you anymore...”

Oikawa smiled at that.

“Well… I suppose I could’ve figured that out myself. It’s still nice to hear, though. However, I expect a proper confession by the end of the week. Love note and everything.”

Hinata rolled his eyes.

Eventually the end of the movie came, unnoticed. The music swelled to an uplifting crescendo and the prince and the princess kissed. It cut to various animal sidekicks clapping and whistling and saying, “Finally,” in an appropriately exasperated voice.

Before the credits rolled, Oikawa leaned in and kissed Hinata. Hinata let him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh and if you guys are interested in saying hi or just talking about oihina (or any ship for that matter. I'm not choosey), you can follow me on tumblr if that's your cup of tea. My username is ibitanididnothingwrong. I post a looooototttt of haikyuu there if you couldn't have guessed! lol


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata's got it mostly figured out. He gets distracted. Kageyama's involved. Daichi plays otome games? Shimizu is worried okay? Oikawa's kind of an ass, let's be real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!! So!!! Here's an update?!?!? Wow only like two weeks?!? Wow waht is this?! Progress?!?!? Character development!?!? Who knows?!?? But yeah. I've been working really hard on this chapter. A whopping 7000 words. I don't think I've ever written a chapter this long! Hopefully it was worth the little bit of wait you guys had! It was super fun to write! And I hope you guys enjoy it! Also i kind of took a little artistic license on the whole timing side of things??? So if you see a glaringly obvious flaw with that then just know i saw it, recognized it and decided to do whatever the heck i was gonna do anyway! lol! But anyway please enjoy!!

Hinata was in the bathroom. Oikawa was sleeping in his room and it was late but he needed to tell someone.

He quickly dialed the number on his phone and tried to keep his heartrate down.

“H… Hello? Hinata, is everything alright?” Suga’s voice answered him. They sounded very sleepy.

“Y-Yeah. No, I’m fine. I just… Um… shit, I’m sorry, Suga-san. Maybe I should call back later.”

“No, Hinata. It’s okay. I’m up now. Go ahead and tell me.”

Hinata didn’t know what it was that made Suga so patient and available all the time but he would definitely not look a gift horse in the mouth.

“I… He kissed me… and I liked it…” He kissed him a lot actually but it had been the first time Hinata hadn’t put up some kind of protest. He actually kind of wanted another. This was big news to him. After they had both realized that the movie had ended, they decided it was too late to really do anything else. Hinata picked Natsu up and put her to bed. Then they decided to go to bed themselves. Well, Oikawa insisted on going to bed but he also insisted that Hinata do his homework first. To which HInata replied, “Oikawa-san, are you my mom?” For some reason, Oikawa laughed at that like it was an inside joke.

“Who?” Suga asked.

“Oikawa…”

“Oh… Oh! Oh, that’s right. He’s staying-! Ah, wow, Hinata that’s amazing! Good for you!” Suga seemed genuinely pleased.

Hinata smiled.

He was probably on some kind of weird high. He didn’t even know what it was that finally convinced him, yes. He liked Oikawa. Yes, he’d like to kiss Oikawa a lot. Yes, he could stand the weird flirting in public. Yes, that weird rare toothy crooked smile made Hinata want to do very very gay things with Oikawa.

After he had finished his homework, Oikawa was already dead asleep. Hinata couldn’t sleep. He just replayed their conversation and their kiss in his head. And then the figurative switch flipped on and he felt like he was going to explode ever since.

“I… I kind of want him to kiss me again…” Hinata said quietly. 

“Good. But why are you telling me this?” Suga laughed good naturedly. “Shouldn’t you be telling this to him? I’m sure he’d be more than happy to kiss you a whole bunch.”

Hinata laughed too. He just felt so giddy. He didn’t know what to do with his hands so he just fiddled with his shirt.

“I guess… But I just wanted… I wanted to tell someone else first. I don’t know why. To practice maybe? I don’t know.”

Suga’s laugh flowed through the phone. “Well, practice is good. Are you gonna wait and tell him at the perfect moment? Or are you gonna wake him up with a kiss like in the fairy tales?”

Hinata thought he was doing very well in this conversation. He had to power through a little extra hard after that last comment and his face was hot enough to melt the sun. But he was doing pretty decently, he thought. “Uh… well… We kind of planned on going shopping? And… so… I might tell him then.”

“Oh? A date? Fancy!”

“Mhmm.” Hinata just wanted to hug everyone. He wanted to hug Natsu. He wanted to hug Mama. He wanted to hug Oikawa. He wanted to hug Kageyama even. In fact, if Kageyama had mysteriously shown up in his house that night, there’d be no saving him from Hinata hugs. That’s just how life was going to be right now.

He really wanted to hug Oikawa though.

“What do you think you’ll get for him?”

“What?”

“Well, if you’re out on a date shopping, sometimes it’s nice if you surprise your date by getting something that they seem to like. That’s how Daichi’s and my first date went. I bought him a lewd Koohii Lovu poster that he still has hanging up in his room.”

Suga chuckled at the memory.

“A what poster?”

“Koohii Lovu. It’s an otome game about a bunch of cafe baristas that we had seen an ad for. Daichi thought those kinds of games were ridiculous so naturally I got him the raunchiest poster they had. Turns out one of the boys has a cutie mark under their left eye. Go figure.”

Hinata didn’t really need to know about the captain’s otome game playing habits.

But still…

“That’s a good idea, Suga-san. But… what would I get Oikawa? I mean, it seems like his parents are pretty well off.., what if I can’t afford anything that he likes?”

There was a small pause.

“Well, Hinata. Sometimes, you’ll like whatever your crush gets you just because your crush got it for you. Do you actually think Daichi decided to get into otome games by himself?”

Hinata briefly thought back to a multitude of times Daichi had whipped out his phone during breaks. Sometimes he could hear men’s voices coming out from the speakers confessing their undying love for someone before Daichi jumped and turned the volume way down on his phone.

“Uuhhh…”

“Well, I guess he likes it now. Actually, not so much as like but so much as he’s addicted to it. That gag present sort of backfired to be honest.”

“Interesting…” Hinata pondered over the pros and cons of buying Oikawa an otome game poster when he realized that Oikawa was kind of himself an otome game character.

He was jarred out of this line of thought with a knock on the bathroom door.

“Shou-chan, you’ve been in there awhile now. Are you alright?”

Hinata covered the receiver of his phone with his hand.

“I’m fine, Mama. Just… uh, finishing up.”

“Okay, but go to bed soon. You have school tomorrow, after all.”

Hinata heard his mother’s footsteps down the hall. He uncovered his phone and said, “Sorry, Suga-san. I should go now but… thank you for listening to me. And I’m sorry I woke you up so late at night.”

Suga huffed a laugh and said, “It’s alright, Hinata. Anytime. If I think of any more dating tips, I’ll be sure to tell you before you’re alone time with Oikawa tomorrow.”

Hinata balked. His knee-jerk reaction was to deny it but then he remembered. He liked Oikawa. Like… like-liked Oikawa. So of course he’d want to spend alone time with Oikawa… in that way. He liked him. They liked each other.

That thought alone made something burn in his chest. He felt light-headed and invincible.

“O-Okay… Suga-san. Thank you again.”

“Not at all. Good night, Hinata.”

“Good night.”

With that they hung up. Hinata’s hands were shaking and he didn’t know what to do with them. He didn’t know what he should do next. The logical thing to do at this time of night would be to sleep. But who in the world could sleep right now? But if he went back to his room, he’d probably be able to talk to Oikawa a little bit.

So he did.

Oikawa wasn’t asleep like how Hinata had thought he was. He was laying down on his futon typing something out on his phone, clicking his tongue at whatever was on his screen. The covers were up to his chest. One hand worked at the keys on his phone while the other tapped an unnamed beat against his chest. The only light in the room came from Oikawa’s phone. It cast an ethereal glow on Oikawa’s face. When he heard the door open, he looked up. They seemed to shine brighter.

“Oh, back are you?” Oikawa greeted.

Hinata forgot how to talk for five seconds.

Why is it that once you’ve learned or accepted that you like someone you begin to become a spluttering idiot around them? Not just an idiot who can’t talk but an idiot who can’t keep their eyes off of the person they like?

Literally Oikawa looked good in everything. Even fucking alien PJs. It so wasn’t fair and Hinata would like to file a formal complaint against all extremely attractive tall people. Who gave them the right? Seriously.

“Yoohoo, earth to Shou-chan.”

And since when did hearing his name from childhood practically sung out of Oikawa’s mouth make him feel so special. And wanted. It was ridiculous and weird and maybe Kageyama’s right about relationships but at the same time, Hinata could not seem to care.

“Yes!” Hinata spluttered out.

Oikawa blinked at him.

“Excuse me?”

“Uh… y-you asked if I was back… and I said yes. I am back…” Smooth.

Oikawa just smiled up at him. “So you are.”

“OIKAWA!”

“YES!?”

Hinata hadn’t meant to yell his name that loud. He only forced it out because he wanted to ask him before he lost his nerve. The volume seemed to have scared Oikawa a little because now he was sitting up and staring at Hinata with rapt attention.

“S-Sorry that was loud.”

“It’s alright. Just… what?”

“Um… tomorrow? W-We should… still go shopping…?”

“Are you asking me out on another date, Shou-chan?”

Some old habits are not easily conquered.

“No! Wh-Why would you think that!?” Hinata squeaked.

“Oh, no reason really. Just you and me alone together. Walking from shop to shop. Holding hands, maybe. Enjoying eachother’s company. I don’t know about you, Shou-chan, but that to me definitely sounds like a date.”

Hinata couldn’t help but agree. In fact, he wanted it to be a date. But he didn’t want Oikawa to know. In retrospect, he probably should have just told Oikawa out right that he wanted to date him. But instead he wanted to save it for the perfect moment. So he kept denying that it was a date, even if Oikawa insisted on it.

“Are you sure it’s not a date, Shou-chan?”

“I… I’m sure…”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“Well, I am. So… so it’s not a date…”

“I’m still not convinced, Shou-chan. I refuse to come shopping with you until you can tell me confidently what it is.”

Hinata’s heart sank. He wanted to go shopping with Oikawa. But if he told him, then HInata couldn’t save his confession for the right moment like he wanted to. He turned toward Oikawa and his feelings must have shown on his face because Oikawa seemed to draw back a bit.

“I mean… I’ll still come with you, Shou-chan. D-Don’t look at me like that…” If anything, Oikawa looked kind of guilty. That’s not what Hinata wanted.

“W-we can still hang out. Even if it’s not a date. I… I like hanging out with you, Oikawa.” Hinata smiled at Oikawa. That smile slowly turned into a grin watching Oikawa flounder for half a second.

“You…” Oikawa covered his face with his hands. “No fair, Shou-chan.”

Oikawa’s ears were bright red. Hinata couldn’t help but be pleased.

“Alright. We’ll go shopping tomorrow,” Oikawa said. “But you should go to sleep. You’re the one who has school tomorrow.”

“Yay!” HInata threw his hands up in the air. He clambered up onto his bed.

He dove under the covers and turned to Oikawa.

“Good night, Oikawa.”

“Good night, Shou-chan. Sweet dreams.”

=======================

Hinata’s alarm on his phone went off. It was earlier today but Hinata turned it off quickly. He hadn’t gotten a whole lot of sleep last night anyway. He quickly checked to make sure that Oikawa hadn’t been awoken by the alarms.

Oikawa seemed to just be snoozing away on his futon. Hinata smiled.

He crept out of his bed and into the hallway. He made his way towards his mom’s room and patiently listened for any signs that she was awake. He heard footsteps in the room.

Hinata gently knocked on the door.

When his mother opened it she had a light bathrobe over her nightgown.

“Shou-chan…? What’s wrong? Why are you up so early?”

“Why are you up so early?” Hinata shot back with a grin.

His mother shook her head. “Force of habit. It’s hard to sleep in when I’ll just need to get up this early again tomorrow. What do you need, Shou-chan?”

Hinata suddenly became bashful. He looked at his toes and shuffled his feet. “Um… s-since… since you have off today… could you… do you mind if you watch Natsu? Oikawa and me wanted to go shopping… and…”

He didn’t know how to continue. The only reason that he didn’t want to bring Natsu was because he just wanted to be alone with Oikawa. That’s it. They weren’t going to see a movie that would be inappropriate for a three year old. They weren’t going to be staying out super late. They weren’t going to a party and those were the only excuses that Hinata could think of. Anything outside of those reasons, normally meant that Hinata would still have to watch her.

He also didn’t feel like he could tell his mother the real reason.

“Of course, I’ll watch Natsu. In fact, I was thinking that we needed some mother-daughter bonding time.”

Hinata beamed at his mother. “Thank you!”

His mother smiled at him and kissed the top of his head. “You boys deserve a nice day to yourselves. Having your baby sister around all the time must be exhausting. But she does appreciate hanging out with you.”

“I know…” Hinata said. “But… you can’t exactly bring your baby sister on a date… I mean wait! NO!”

“SHOU-CHAN!” His mother gasped. 

Oh fuck!

===================================

Over breakfast, Mama was being insufferable. Hinata loved his mother. She was amazing in every sense of the word. She worked hard. Not only in her job but to make sure that he and Natsu didn’t feel like they were missing anything in their life. There wasn’t a thing that she could do that would make Hinata irrationally angry.

He just got frustrated sometimes.

“Now, Tooru-kun, even though you’ll be leaving this Saturday, I want you to know that you are always welcome in our home.”

“Oh. Thank you, Hana-san. That’s very kind.”

“You’re very welcome. Shou-chan seems to be a lot livelier now that you’ve stayed with us. Isn’t that right, Shou-chan?”

“Mama…” Hinata groaned.

Oikawa was doing his best to keep a straight face. Hinata had to hand it to him. But the extra quirk of his lips every so often made his struggle to keep calm apparent.

Natsu was busy eating her oatmeal and glancing at Oikawa. Then at Hinata.

“Now, I understand that you boys wish to have an afternoon alone, is that correct?”

“MAMA!” Hinata shrieked. By itself it didn’t seem too insinuating a statement. It was just the way she emphasized the word “alone” that made Hinata’s head spin.

“Yes, Hana-san. That is exactly correct.” Oikawa replied smoothly.

Hinata could kill him. How dare he goad his mother on like that. Who had a crush on this ridiculous obnoxious king? Not Hinata.

“Then Natsu and I will have the house to ourselves. You boys can have the afternoon off. And ah! Just a moment.”

She left the table and went to the counter where her purse was. She fished out her wallet and took out a couple crumpled bills. She handed them over to Hinata.

“Here you are. Just in case you boys decide to stay out past suppertime. You know… for a movie? Perhaps?”

She winked at Hinata. He felt his life crumble around him because he was no longer safe in his own home. His mother was trying to help hook him up with Oikawa.

Obviously, she was taking the whole “your son is queer” thing very well. She didn’t once stop to question if Hinata was sure he liked Oikawa in that way, and to be perfectly honest Hinata might have not given her a straight answer to that (heh… straight).

She had only insisted that he come straight to her if he had any relationship trauma or anything like that. Which was… exactly what Hinata wanted to hear.

There’s no telling if Oikawa still liked Hinata. He could have missed his chance by a long shot. This whole confession thing could still go tits-up and Hinata wouldn’t have very many people to blame except himself.

He was grateful his mom had just accepted him with no asterisks attached.

“Hana-san, that’s much too kind,” Oikawa was saying.

“Well, it’s just a thank you for helping out around the house, you know.” Hinata’s mother smiled. Then nodded to herself, as if that was what she really meant it to be.

“Thanks, Mama,” Hinata said. And he meant it. He could just do without how embarrassing everything is.

A quick look at the clock told Hinata he better get a move on. He finished up his breakfast and there was a round of goodbye kisses. Except for Oikawa. Who thought it would be funny to pucker his lips up in front of his little sister AND his mother.

Instead, Hinata just took his hand and shook it once. Then he was out the door.

He heard Oikawa’s laugh carry across the hallway and his face burned. But he couldn’t fight off the tiniest smile.

=====================

“Hinata! Heads up!”

It was too late. The ball had already hit Hinata square in the face. For the third time that practice.

Coach Ukai blew the whistle.

“Walk it off!” he ordered.

“Yeb, bir!” Hinata murmured through his hand. He took another lap around the gym trying to clear the tears from his eyes.

He could hear Kageyama spit insults at him as Tanaka tried to hold him back from beating the living shit out of him.

“Hinata! You dumb ass! You said you wouldn’t be distracted!”

“Hey, hey now. He’ll be fine.” Tanaka tried to soothe Kageyama to the best of his abilities, And it worked for the first couple of times, but not this time.

“Who’s to say he’s not concussed by now?!” Kageyama demanded.

And like magic, Shimizu appeared in front of Hinata and flashed a light in his eye. He squawked at the sudden brightness.

“Sensitivity to light,” she murmured.

“Only because you suddenly flashed a light in my eyes!”

“Hmm… Where are we right now?” she asked.

“In the Karasuno gym…” Hinata answered dutifully.

Shimizu hummed again and asked another series of questions and gently took his hands away from his face. When she was satisfied that Hinata wasn’t in fact concussed, she let him continue his lap.

Tsukishima was laughing his ass off.

“Someone’s thinking too hard about something.”

“AM NOT!”

“My mistake! I forgot that there’s literally nothing going on in that head of yours.”

Hinata would have decked him if he wasn’t on the same team. But then again that’s never stopped him from hitting Kageyama sometimes. But then again Kageyama always used physical violence against him. Tsukishima is just an asshole.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Ukai said. “Let’s go once more.”

They were working on receives and attacks. Kageyama and Suga stood on either side of the net in the setter’s position. Everyone else lined up by threes in the back row. The idea was to receive it and pass it perfectly to the setter. The setter tossed the ball to whoever had received it. The receiver would hit it to the opposite side where someone would pass it to the setter and the cycle continued. Coach Ukai had said that he’d treat everyone to a pork bun after practice if they could get upwards of twenty-five volleys in a row. That was the plan at least.

Hinata hadn’t been making that plan exactly easy for everyone. He had been receiving balls but only with his face it seemed like. Throwing the whole rotation out of whack and causing the drill to start over. Everyone was hot and tired and Hinata was too distracted for this. He resumed his position on the court.

He promised Kageyama that his new weird relationship with Oikawa wouldn’t get in the way of playing volleyball. But… it was super hard to not think about spending the entire afternoon alone with Oikawa. Out shopping. Finding something that Oikawa liked. Saying something and getting Oikawa to get so embarrassed that he had to cover his face with his hands. And the look on his face once Hinata told him his feelings. Maybe he’d blush a little bit. And smile. The one that made Hinata’s insides turn into butterflies.

“Hinata! Heads up!”

He was able to get the ball by the skin of his nose. Quite literally.

The ball made contact and there was a sharp pain. Hinata shrieked. He heard someone, Asahi maybe, shriek. He clasped his hands around his nose and felt something warm trickle from it. He pulled a hand away and looked down to see red blood. When he heard plopping sounds and realized it was dripping on the floor, Hinata quickly replaced his hands.

Suga was the first one that got to him.

“Hinata, are you alright? Talk to me.”

“By bob’s gonna kill be…”

Suga had a hand on his back and was guiding him toward the bench.

“Here,” Suga said. He took one of Hinata’s hands and pressed something that felt like tissues into it. “Now tip your head back and put the tissues on your nose. Shimizu’s gone to get some ice from the nurse’s office. Just hang tight for a little, okay?”

Hinata would have been very soothed by Suga’s warmth and caring if he didn’t hear Kageyama pitching a fit not too far away.

“Kageyaba’s bad…?” Hinata asked. He was in too much pain to even try to form together a complete sentence.

Suga shook their head and smiled kindly. “No, he’s not mad. Just worried. We all got a little scare when we started to see the blood. You should have seen Asahi’s face.”

Hinata huffed a small laugh. He flinched though when he accidentally jostled his nose.

Suga saw the pain on his face and immediately became worried.

“Hinata!” 

“I’b fide! I’b fide. Just… By dose hurts,” Hinata replied.

Suga huffed a tiny laugh. “Well, I could imagine. Here, let’s see if the bleeding stopped for a minute.”

Suga gently prodded Hinata’s hands away from his face. Their gaze dropped from amused concern to blank.

“What?” Hinata demanded.

“Hinata, we might need to take you to the doctor’s…”

“Why?”

“Y...Your nose…. it looks broken.”

=================

Turned out, Hinata’s nose was not only broken. It was super broken. Because of his nosebleed, Hinata had been too afraid to breathe in from his nose. But once it stopped for the most part, he tried it. It didn’t work like it was supposed to. He couldn’t breathe any air in through his nose, in fact. He felt like a dog breathing in and out through his mouth.

He fished out his phone from his bag, wanting to see how bad his nose looked. Suga snatched it from him before he could though.

“Hey!”

“Hinata, I think it’d be better if you didn’t look at your nose for now…”

A small weight of dread settled in his stomach.

“Is it that bad?” Hinata asked.

Shimizu picked that time to return with the ice. It was wrapped in a washcloth. Instead of handing it to him like Hinata thought was going to happen, she pressed it to his nose first. The sudden pressure was enough for a sharp stab of pain to run through his nose. Hinata whimpered.

Shimizu took Hinata’s hand and placed it over the ice so he was holding it up against his nose.

Then she stood there. With the most disapproving glare he had ever seen on her.

“U-um…”

“Don’t be so careless,” she said simply. Then walked away.

Tanaka and Nishinoya were on him in a minute.

“Did Kiyoko-san just nurse you!? Oh, dude! You are so lucky!?” Tanaka exclaimed.

“Asahi-san! Hit me in the face with the volleyball so my nose can get broken too!” Nishinoya was yelling at Asahi.

“What? No!” Asahi turned pale at the very idea.

Nishinoya scoffed. “Well, whatever.”

He turned back to Hinata and he seemed to sober a little.

“Listen, Shouyou, I know you’re kind of a space-case and that’s like your charm point or whatever? But, what’s with you today? Is that bastard Oikawa giving you trouble?”

Hinata froze. Not really sure what to answer with. The truth was probably the best option but he also didn’t want to out himself to the whole team. Not yet anyway.

“Uh… no. Just had a lot on my mind recently?”

Nishinoya’s look softened. “Well, listen. Even if I can’t help with anything, I’m good at listening.”

“That’s right, Noya-san! You are!” Tanaka chimed in.

“Thanks, bro,” Nishinoya responded.

They held each other’s gaze for a couple of really long seconds.

Hinata glanced at Suga. Suga shrugged.

“Hinata,” Coach Ukai called.

Hinata decided he should at least try to get up. When he did, he was a bit shakey on his legs but fine. Suga was right by his side as he walked over to Ukai.

“I called your mom. She’ll be here to pick you up and take you to the doctors soon.”

“I-I cad go to the doctor’s by byself!” Hinata exclaimed. Mama was supposed to be enjoying her day off. But he had to be a bonehead and get his nose broken.

Ukai raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t think so.”

“Why dot?”

“Because your nose is broken. You’re not going anywhere by yourself.”

“I’m coming with you!”

Hinata glanced up and saw Kageyama standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You really dod’t have to, Kageyaba.”

“Well, I am! I’m going!”

Suga leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Remember, he’s not mad. Just worried.”

Hinata gave Suga a questioning look. All they did was smile.

=======================================

The ride to the hospital was a silent one. Hinata had said that he’d sit in the back with Natsu and one other person, but his mother wouldn’t hear of it. She demanded that he sit in front so that she could keep an eye on him. Hinata had wondered briefly what she needed to keep an eye on him for. That thought had been quickly swallowed by the realization that Oikawa and Kageyama would be sitting in the back seats together. With nothing separating them except for Natsu’s car seat and Natsu herself.

“Tobio-niichan!” Natsu said, waving papers in front of his face. “I finished your volleyballs.”

Kageyama took the papers and scrutinized them. Then he folded them up and put the in his bag.

“Th… Thank you. I… love them.”

Natsu beamed.

Oikawa was sulking.

“I can’t believe this,” Oikawa was muttering under his breath.

Hinata prayed that the two of them wouldn’t fight during the car ride or the doctor’s visit or the way home. They could get along for the injured person’s sake, right?

“Shou-chan,” his mother started.

Hinata looked up. His mother’s face was set in a hard stern look.

“I’b sorry, Baba…” Hinata said. “You had a day off today… Ad I ruid it.”

Mama sighed. “No, you didn’t ruin it. I’m just worried about you. Just like the boys are. Just like Natsu is.”

“But I’b fide, by dose is just broked,” Hinata explained.

“No, you’re not fine, Shou-chan. Your broken nose is the ultimate signifier that you are not fine. Do not try to pretend that you are fine. Because you’re not.”

Hinata sighed. “How long… is it going to take?”

“To what?”

“To heal?”

She sighed. “After the doctor sets your nose in splints, it should take about two weeks.”

Hinata groaned.

“How long udtil I cad play volleyball again?”

“Two weeks, Shou-chan.”

There was a sudden thump from the backseat. Hinata turned and Kageyama’s hand was clenched into a white-knuckled fist. He’d slammed it on his armrest.

“You told me you’d be fine!” Kageyama hissed.

“It’s odly two weeks, Kageyaba,” Hinata said.

“You told me you wouldn’t be distracted and you’d be fine!”

“It’s dot like I cad really help it, okay!?”

“And now your nose is broken, Hinata! And you can’t play for two weeks!”

He knew where Kageyama was coming from. He was frustrated too. He didn’t want to miss practice. The spring tournament was right around the corner. He couldn’t sacrifice two weeks of practice to… do what? Heal?

But he’d have to. His mother would probably not let him out of the house until his nose fully healed.

“Shou-chan, what is he talking about?” Oikawa asked.

Hinata froze. He willed Kageyama not to say a word. He didn’t want Oikawa to find out. Not like this and not when his nose was broken and it hurt!

“Nothing,” Kageyama spat.

“Oh, you piss me off. So much, Tobio-chan, you-”

“It’s not my story to tell, Oikawa-san,” Kageyama interrupted.

Oikawa scoffed. “It’s rude to talk about something in front of people who aren’t in the know…”

Hinata had been watching the exchange through the rearview mirror. Oikawa met his gaze and then let it fall. He turned to look out the window.

“Well, here we are, boys and Natsu. Everyone out,” Hinata’s mother said.

=================

The doctor’s visit wasn’t as bad as Hinata had been expecting.

Well, it was about as painful as he expected but not as bad. The doctor realigned his nose without any kind of surgery at all. He just used a couple of tools to crack it back into place. Oikawa had looked pale and about ready to faint when he heard the crack.

Once the doctor had fixed it he placed splints on his nose and wrapped it in bandages. He explained that it would start swelling soon and to just use ice on it. He warned against any contact sports and told Hinata that if he wanted that maybe he should just rest for a day.

Before his mother could say anything he said, “What about volleyball?”

The doctor seemed to pause. “Well, that’s how you broke your nose in the first place, correct?”

“Well… yeah… but! There’s gotta be some way I can still play, right?”

The doctor considered him for a minute.

“Shou-chan,” his mother warned. “I’m sure if there was a way then Dr. Sato would have said something by now.”

“Well, actually Hinata-san… there is a way…”

The doctor got up and walked over to one of the cabinets in the examination room. He took out some weird kind of contraption. It looked a little bit like scientific goggles except instead of covering just the eyes, it covered down to the nose. It had straps that Hinata could only guess that were supposed to go around the head.

“I would warn against playing any kind of sport for at least a day and see how you feel. If you feel up to it in a day or so, you could be allowed to go back to practice, provided that you wear this.”

Hinata considered it. “What is it?”

“It’s a face mask designed specifically for broken noses. You put it on and it should protect your nose from any misfired volleyballs. At least until it fully heals.”

Hinata imagined Tsukishima having a field day when he saw him wearing that. But what else could he do?

“Okay, I’ll take it!”

“Excellent.”

==================

Once they dropped Kageyama off at his house, Mama drove them home. She hadn’t seemed too thrilled about the idea of her son going back into volleyball so soon but Hinata knew that she knew how happy volleyball made him. So she wouldn’t protest too much.

Oikawa had been unusually quiet for awhile.

When they got back to the house, Mama and Natsu decided that they’d take care of dinner. She said she was going to make Hinata’s favorite.

“Thanks, Mama,” he said. He got a kiss on the forehead for that.

“You’re welcome. How about you go upstairs and rest for a bit, alright?”

“Okay.” He was about to turn and go when he saw Oikawa just standing a little awkwardly in the middle of the dining room.

“Oikawa, do you want to hang out with me in my room?” Hinata asked.

That seemed to jar him a little out of his stupor. He nodded.

He followed Hinata up to his room. He didn’t have much in the way of entertainment in his room. He didn’t even really have a TV up there. Maybe they should have just stayed downstairs and played video games?

But before Hinata even closed the door, Oikawa grabbed his shoulder.

“What was Tobio-chan talking about?”

Fuck.

“N-nothing… really. Just… you know how Kageyama gets. Super intense about volleyball.”

Oikawa leveled an unimpressed glare at him.

“Shou-chan… if you haven’t noticed, we’re all super intense about volleyball.”

“Right….”

Oikawa still didn’t let his shoulder go. Hinata knew Oikawa was still waiting for an answer. He didn’t want to give it to him. He still didn’t let go of his shoulder.

Hinata didn’t want to lie. He didn’t want to tell the truth either. He wanted to work up to that. Without bandages and splinters holding his nose in place.

“I… I’d rather not talk about it… okay?”

Oikawa sighed through his nose and let go. “But Tobio-chan knows about it. Whatever it is… Why can’t I?”

Hinata scratched his head. “Kageyama… I didn’t tell Kageyama… not really. He kind of figured it out?”

“Am I supposed to believe that?” Oikawa demanded.

“Yeah, cause it’s the truth?”

Oikawa crossed his arms.

This whole haughty entitled act wasn’t exactly doing wonders for Hinata’s mood. “What’s it matter to you anyway? I told you I didn’t want to talk about it and yet here you are. Trying to make me talk about it!”

“I’m worried about you,” Oikawa said. “If you didn’t notice, whatever that thing was that had you so distracted got you seriously hurt!”

“Yeah, no, I realized. Thanks for that. You don’t have to be worried about me. I’m fine. Really. Do you… I don’t know… want to play cards or something?”

Oikawa sighed. “Okay…”

Hinata dug out an old deck of playing cards and they decided to play old maid. Oikawa didn’t want to play go fish which was the only other card game Hinata knew. They hardly talked through the game. Hinata didn’t want to make small talk and apparently neither did Oikawa. That was fine by him.

They were half way through the game when Hinata’s phone buzzed.

It was Kageyama.

Hinata answered it. Ready for the onslaught. Oikawa was just looking disinterestedly at his hand.

“Kageyama, before you say anything you should know-”

“I’m sorry…”

Hinata stopped.

“What?”

“I said I’m sorry, dumbass. I just…” Hinata heard a big huff of air and a grunt, like it was physically painful for Kageyama to get these words out.

Hinata took a breath and waited. Whatever kind of expression was on Hinata’s face made Oikawa glance at him every so often.

The pause stretched for what felt like an eternity. Hinata was about to ask if Kageyama was still there when he continued.

“I didn’t mean to snap today. Just… the blood… and… I was… scared….”

Hinata felt his eyes widen. His eyebrows shot up. “What?”

The last word had been so faint that Hinata thought he must have heard wrong.

“I was scared! I thought you were seriously hurt! And you are! But not as bad as I thought. I thought you must have got a concussion for sure that time! And I thought you wouldn’t be able to play in the spring tournament! But I want you there! I need you there!”

Hinata’s heart was pounding rapidly. Hinata felt himself smile.

“And you got me, Kageyama! I’ll be there!”

Hinata was practically vibrating in his seat.

“I just…” Kageyama continued. “I just want you to be more careful… And… and what? Oh, and make sure you take better care of yourself.”

That last sentence was a little weird.

But Kageyama kept going on about friendship and how he wanted Hinata to make a full recovery in a very articulated and long-winded speech that didn’t seem like it came 100% from Kageyama.

Sometimes he swore he could have heard someone else’s voice in the background.

“Hey, Kageyama?”

“What?”

“Is… is someone there with you?”

“NO!”

He definitely heard someone talking in the background that time. It sounded like…

“Suga-san?”

There were a lot of clicks while the phone switched hands.

“Hello, Hinata!” Suga said brightly.

“Uh…”

“Sorry, but I thought you and Kageyama should talk about this. You two seemed kind of upset with each other today. And don’t worry, everything Kageyama said were 100% his real feelings. He just needed help putting them into words. That’s all.”

“Oh…” Then Hinata started laughing. “For a second, I thought Kageyama had gotten abducted by aliens or something. How could he be that emotional and eloquent.”

“You probably don’t even know what eloquent means!” Kageyama shouted from the background.

“Neither do you, smartass!” Hinata shot back.

“I… It means… loquacious!?”

“That’s not a word!”

“Is too!”

“Now, now,” Suga tried to calm them both down.

Suga went on to say how they’d practiced a bit before they actually made the call but Kageyama still felt he needed them there to make sure he didn’t make a big fool of himself. Hinata’s face hurt he was smiling so much.

“Well, tell Kageyama that his apology is 100% accepted! So he doesn’t need to worry about me anymore.”

“I-I wasn’t! I wasn’t… too worried…” he heard Kageyama say.

Hinata grinned. “Yeah, right.”

They spoke a bit more about when Hinata thought he’d be back to practice. He figured his mom would probably want to keep him home tomorrow but the day after he was going to get checked by the doctor again. And if the doctor OK’d it, he should be able to make afternoon practice on Friday.

“That sounds like a good idea. We don’t need you to be pushing yourself too hard. We need you healthy and ready for the spring tournament.”

Hinata nodded vigorously.

“Yes!” he shouted. He didn’t realize how loud he was until he saw Oikawa jump in surprise.

Suga let out a laugh. “Then we’ll leave you alone to get better… Oh, Hinata one more thing?”

“Yes?”

“Try to hash out your uh… distractions before you come back to practice, okay? We really can’t risk you getting hurt again, okay? I find in my own experience that a lot of kissing helps.”

Hinata’s face was definitely probably on fire. “Uh… y-y-y-yeah… um…. okay…. sure. Yeah….”

And with that Suga hung up with a cheery, “Good luck~”

Hinata put his phone down. He almost dropped it.

When Hinata looked up at Oikawa, he looked rather disinterested in everything. His mouth was in a sour pout and his brows were furrowed. He squinted his eyes at Hinata’s phone.

“So what did Tobio-chan want?”

“Oh, nothing, really. He just wanted to apologize for earlier.”

Oikawa nodded. “Anything else?”

“Um… no?”

Oikawa snorted. “You’re face says differently.”

“What?”

“Shou-chan, you’re blushing up to your ears. What did he say?”

“Oh… uh, n-no that was… that was Suga-san… they-”

“Oh, so it’s Mr. Refreshing, huh?” Oikawa’s lips stretched into a grinning sneer. “What could he have possibly said that-”

“They.”

Oikawa blinked, for a second not understanding. Until he amended his sentence. “What could they have possibly said that got you so flustered?”

“Um… none of your business?” Hinata flinched at his own words. Probably not the best way to word that. Especially since it kind of was Oikawa’s business. Since it was about his feelings for Oikawa.

“I find that difficult to believe, Shou-chan. Because I don’t know if you remember but I did sort of confess to you?” Oikawa’s voice was a little biting. Like he was trying to keep most of his venom inside but some slipped out.

“Yeah… but that doesn’t mean you automatically get to know everything about my life!”

“No! I never said I was owed that. What I do think I’m owed though is an answer! Especially if you have feelings for someone else! I will be a lot of things for you, Shou-chan, but a toy to string along isn’t one of them!”

That completely knocked Hinata off his feet. He felt the ire at that statement rise up in his throat.

“How could you even think that I would do something like that!?”

“Well, I’d imagine that after kissing you last night you’d finally have an answer for me! Maybe I just imagined how you seemed to enjoy it! Maybe I imagined the way you looked completely content afterwards! Maybe the little tiny inkling that I had that you could possibly like me back is so far out of possibility that I could actually be insane because I thought the way you looked at me was so familiar! It reminds me so much of how I look at you!”

“THAT WAS SUPER FUCKING LAME!” Hinata’s face was red. He was shaking. Oikawa was also red and shaking. He didn’t know what to do to make this better.

“YOU’RE LAME!” Oikawa shouted back. Then he covered his face with his hands. He said quieter, “Why am I getting so mad? This isn’t…”

“Oikawa, why are you mad? Because you think I like you?”

“No! I’m mad because here I am pouring my heart out for you and you have the gall to flirt with your teammates on the phone while I’m sitting right here! At least tell me you don’t like me first!”

“Oikawa, I wasn’t flirting with them…?”

“You told Tobio-chan that he’s got you and you’ll be there? I assume for some kind of date! Then Mr. Refreshing said something to you that made you blush? Is that not flirting?”

“Wha-?” The mere thought of anyone thinking that he had been flirting with either of them made Hinata feel sick. Especially Kageyama.

“Suga-san’s super taken! And I don’t know about you but Kageyama seems super aro to me!”

“Then what made you blush like that!?”

“I… I don’t know!”

“What do you mean you don’t know!?”

“I just…. I don’t! Sometimes I do things and they don’t always make sense to me!”

“Shouyou!” Oikawa spit out his full un-shortened first name like he was exasperated. Like he didn’t know what to do anymore. For whatever reason it was important for Oikawa to know what had gotten him so flustered.

Hinata didn’t like his name being used as an insult.

If Oikawa wanted to know that badly then fine. Fucking fine!

“Okay! Okay, fine.You want to know what Suga-san said that made me blush like that? You want to know the super important thing that made me blush like that!? You, you infuriating dick! I told Suga-san that I like you and they told me to tell you and that’s what made me blush! I was gonna wait until I could take you out on a date but now I’ll be stuck in the house for tomorrow, and you go back to your house on Saturday so you probably want to pack and stuff on Friday! And I’ll probably be at practice or the doctor’s or somewhere not near you! And it’s just been really frustrating! Because my nose is all bandaged up and you probably don’t even want to kiss me because it’s weird with my nose! And I think it started swelling which is super gross and it hurts! And I sound all nasally and weird and my nose got broken today, you ass! Can’t you give me at least a day until I tell you that I like you!? I literally found out like last night!?”

Hinata had become more and more agitated as his speech went on. His voice rose higher and higher and his arms seemed to take on a life of their own. When he was finally finished, all the fight seemed to go out of him. His arms dropped to his sides and he suddenly realized everything that he had just said.

He carefully looked up at Oikawa.

He looked surprised. Then slowly, he started grinning.

“Shou-chan…” he breathed.

Hinata’s cheeks burned. “U-Um… I… I mean, that was… Sorry, I was going to….”

Hinata scrubbed at his face with his hands, trying to wipe all of the red that was no doubt all over it. He was going to take his hands away from his face but ultimately decided against it.

“Shou-chan… I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have pushed you. Your nose is broken after all. But… if-if you knew then why didn’t you say something sooner? Why was it so hard to say?”

“It… It really wasn’t actually…” Hinata muttered. “I just….” Hinata peaked through his fingers.

Oikawa didn’t look angry anymore. He looked calm but curious. There was a hint of a smile. Like he was happy but that took a back seat to finding out what he wanted to know. Hinata’s heart sped up at the thought that fuck. He really fucking liked Oikawa.

“I just… wanted to wait until the perfect moment. I was going to tell you today when we went for our… our d-date. And I was gonna get you something? Something stupid maybe? But something at least to get you to smile… And I kind of fucked everything up.”

Oikawa was blushing. His grin was wide and brimming with heartbreaking joy.

“That was… pretty lame…” Hinata mumbled. “My whole confession… thing. Didn’t work out like how I planned…”

Hinata felt Oikawa’s hands close around his own. Hinata didn’t fight the gentle pull as Oikawa tried to pry his hands away from his face.

What Hinata saw after his hands were away from his face was Oikawa’s face up close. His smile was big and bold and awkward and genuine and Hinata felt like he could fly at that very moment.

“Yeah,” agreed Oikawa, “that was pretty lame.”

He leaned in for a kiss and Hinata met him halfway.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata's nose is still broken but that doesn't stop Oikawa from wanting kisses. Hinata's mom is cool! And the reason why!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *crawls out from the abyss with an update* I LIIIIIVVVEEEEEE!! Guys, thank you so much for being patient with me and hopefully you guys haven't given up on this fic. If ya'll don't know grad school has kind of taken over my life (as it does). Again I wish I could promise that now there'll be regular updates but the only thing I can promise is that I won't give up on this fic!! But hopefully this update will tide you guys over until the next one which hopefully won't be as few and far between as they have been! But I'd just like to thank you all again for commenting and liking and subscribing and all that good stuff.
> 
> Special thanks to anonymous commenter cc. here's your next chapter aaaayyyyy

“Oh, Shou-chan…”

The next kiss completely wiped any and all thoughts Hinata had from his mind. It was warm and so soft. Hinata’s eyes closed on their own accord. Oikawa’s fingers were playing at the small hairs on the back of his neck. It was driving him insane.

Hinata felt his hands fisting Oikawa’s shirt. If Oikawa was going to kiss him then he better not fucking move.

Oikawa pulled away just long enough for Hinata to take a quick breath and then he was back. This time, his lips moved achingly sweetly on his own. Before Oikawa, Hinata had never been kissed. Before tonight, he had never been kissed like this. Hinata was conflicted. He wanted to keep kissing Oikawa like this but at the same time, he felt he needed more. He wouldn’t have been able to tell you what that meant. But also at the same time, he felt he was going to explode if he kept kissing Oikawa like this.

“Shou-chan…” Oikawa hadn’t spoken his name so much as he breathed it against his lips.

Hinata’s breath stuttered.

Oikawa sighed against his mouth and lightly pressed their lips together.

When he spoke next he hardly pulled away from Hinata. He could still feel Oikawa’s lips lightly brush against his as he spoke.

“Shou-chan, are you alright?”

Hinata nodded. He didn’t have time to address the slight teasing tone that Oikawa had to his voice. He only had the time for more kisses. 

He hadn’t opened his eyes once since Oikawa started kissing him like that. He wanted more. He was afraid to open his eyes. If he did, who's to say that all of this wouldn’t vanish?

There was a pause where neither of them moved or said anything. Hinata hadn’t been that good at waiting anyway. He moved his lips across the tiny bit of space between them.

He kissed Oikawa.

He was rewarded with a small surprised grunt coming from the back of Oikawa’s throat.

Hinata took that as his cue to continue. He tried to recreate how Oikawa had kissed him. He moved his lips the way he thought Oikawa had. At least, he put a tiny bit of effort into it. He couldn’t really concentrate for all the little sounds Oikawa kept making. Just half formed sighs and the tiniest of grunts.

They didn’t sound a lot like anything except pleased little hums. Eventually Hinata stopped trying to actively think about what to do and decided it would make much more sense to do what felt good.

It was around the time Hinata let his teeth graze across Oikawa’s bottom lip, when he heard his mother calling them from downstairs.

“Shou-chan! Tooru-kun! Dinner’s ready!”

They pulled away from each other. Somehow, Hinata had found himself practically in Oikawa’s lap with his hands tangled in the setter’s hair. He could feel Oikawa’s hands at his back, hardly there.

“Well… that certainly was… something,” Oikawa said.

“I liked it,” Hinata said. He felt himself grinning and couldn’t bother himself with even trying to wipe it off.

Oikawa turned a bit pink in the cheeks and covered his mouth which had also gotten quite pink. “Well… I guess, we should go downstairs and… um…”

If Hinata had known kissing Oikawa like this would have left him so speechless, he probably would have done it ages ago. Hinata could feel the laugh bubble up inside of him before it ever came out. When it did, Oikawa decided to join him. Neither of them knew really what they were laughing at. It was like their bodies didn’t know what to do with all this happiness and translated it to unabashed snorting laughter.

“Boys, did you hear me!?” Mama’s voice came again.

“Y-Yes, Mama!”

They scrambled off of each other and went downstairs, giggling all the way. At the bottom of the stairs, Hinata caught a glimpse at himself and was shocked. His hair seemed mussier than usual. His lips were pink and a little bit swollen. He brought a hand up to cover them and then flinched at his own touch. His lips were very sensitive.

Obviously this didn’t look very normal. He was about to call Oikawa back so they could at least try to make themselves a bit more presentable before his mother. But from the sound of Oikawa’s overenthusiastic laugh, it sounded like he already made it to the dining room. Hinata followed soon after trying to tame his already wild hair by combing his fingers through it.

Once he sat down and the food was presented to them, Hinata tried to focus on dinner and what his mother was telling him, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Oikawa. Everything he did seemed graceful and elegant and wonderful (even though realistically he knocked over the salt two times, and spilled noodles on his lap and could barely operate his chopsticks).

If Hinata’s mother noticed, she didn’t say anything.

However, Natsu noticed and she couldn’t stop talking about it.

“Hey, how come your faces are red? Mama, are they sick?”

“Well, Shou-chan did just get his nose broken?”

“Then what about Tooru-niichan?”

“Well, maybe he caught whatever bug Shou-chan has.”

Natsu scrunched up her nose and scooched her noodle bowl a little bit further away from Hinata and Oikawa.

They had immediately sat side-by-side without really thinking about it. Their arms and hands brushed periodically. They would catch each other’s glances and when Mama wasn’t looking, Oikawa sent Hinata a wink. It made his belly do flip flops. He tried not to smile. Which just made it worse.

He kept thinking about kissing Oikawa again. How could one person think about kissing so much? Was it normal to want to kiss someone so much that you were practically vibrating out of your body?

Oikawa seemed to be carrying on a conversation with Mama, correcting himself every so often. They were talking about school or something.

“Being away from school so long, kind of makes me kiss- uh, miss. Miss I mean. Miss school. You know, classmates and friends and stuff like that. Volleyball, too. I mean I used to know a guy who lips… I mean, skips! Skips school. They act like its some kind of prison and try to make out-BREAK OUT! Break out of school…”

He looked mortified and to be completely honest, that’s about how Hinata felt. Mama either ignored it or didn’t seem to notice it. She would just nod her head and offer a small phrase to let Oikawa know she was still listening.

“Well, that’s nice,” she said, nodding.

Hinata knew his mother knew. She had to have. She was his mom. Mom’s knew everything. She didn’t even blink at what Oikawa said. 

If she did know that means he’s getting a Talk later. Maybe Oikawa will also get a Talk. Worst case scenario is Mama calling the both of them down to the living room where she has tea prepared and cookies prepared.

Hinata really hoped that she would just talk to him and tell him that if he ever needed anything that he was more than welcome to seek her out for advice or whatever.

Oikawa was also still talking.

“Wow, Hana-san, these noodles are so delicious. I mean, my own mother doesn’t really cook that often so maybe I’ve no right to say that these are the best noodles I’ve ever had. Whenever, you have noodles again, please give me a call and I will gladly come over and eat any and all leftovers that you may have.”

Mama was just smiling, and eating her food in silence.

They finished dinner in much the same vein, Oikawa talking enough for everyone, not making much sense really, Mama quietly smiling, and Natsu listening adamantly to whatever Oikawa had to say, and Hinata barely holding in his embarrassment and anxiety and a stray bit of fondness for Oikawa. It was cute the way he talked with his hands when he got nervous.

When they carried their dishes into the kitchen, Mama took them and still smiling said, “You boys can head upstairs for a bit. I’ll call you down in a little bit with tea and cookies. Okay?”

Hinata’s blood ran cold.

Oikawa was still talking. “That sounds wonderful, Hana-san. Thank you so much. You really are too kind. I’ll never be able to return this kindness in any way. Really, Hana-san, you are much much too kind to me. I mean, you hardly know me and here you are inviting me into your house and making us dinner. I-”

“Th-Thanks, Mama,” Hinata interrupted. He took Oikawa by the arm and lead him upstairs to his room.

He closed the door behind him and decided to level with Oikawa.

“This is bad…” he began.

“Wh-why? I thought dinner went really well, didn’t you? I completely didn’t act out of character or anything… Although you might need some work, if we’re going to keep this from Hana-san for the time being…”

“She knows already…” Hinata said. While Hinata hadn’t actually assumed that they were going to announce to the rooftops that they had kissed, he also didn’t like the idea of keeping anything from his mother. Especially his first… possible relationship?

“How could she possibly know?” Oikawa was so unbothered by the question that he just flopped down on the floor next to Hinata’s bed.

“Well, you kind of Freudian slipped up a lot down there.” Hinata wanted to pretend he was angry about it but he couldn’t help grinning at how funny it all was.

“I-I did not!” The pink in Oikawa’s cheeks was cute. And suddenly Hinata was thinking about kissing again.

“You totally did… I wonder what you were thinking about? It couldn’t have been that you kissed, I mean, missed school?”

Hinata had tried his best to say it with a poker face but his grin stretched too wide and his teeth were showing.

Oikawa turned away from him with a huff. “Well, if you’re going to be cheeky about it…”

Before Hinata could filter his thoughts from his words, he said, “I could get cheekier.”

It sounded like the least cool thing he could say and it was also really embarrassing. But Hinata couldn’t say he cared when he saw Oikawa’s ears getting red.

Oikawa let out a snort. “You won’t follow through with that threat.”

If Oikawa should learn anything about Hinata if they were going to start dating, then he shouldn’t incite Hinata to a challenge unless he wants him to follow through with it.

Hinata quietly crept over and knelt beside Oikawa’s prostrated from. He’d been on his side so he hadn’t seen Hinata approach. Hinata leaned over and the motion was enough for Oikawa’s eyes to flit up.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

Hinata grinned. “Nothing,” he replied, innocent as can be.

He brought his face closer to Oikawa. In response, Oikawa only raised an eyebrow at him.

“Nothing, huh?”

“Nope, nothing at all.” Hinata kept his voice cheery.

“It seems an awful lot like you have some kind of plan.”

Hinata scoffed. “Plan? I’m not good at those.”

Oikawa smiled. “I don’t know about that.”

It was that weird smile. The one that got Hinata’s heart beating faster. He had lied before. He had sort of the makings of a plan but that plan had sort of flown out of the window. In it’s place were very embarrassing thoughts trying to slip through his mouth. He’d never had a good filter for those.

“I like your smile!”

Oikawa blinked up at him. “Th-thank you.”

“I like it when you blush!”

As if it were the Devil, the blush magically appeared on his cheeks.

“Um… thank you?”

“I want to kiss you! Can I?”

“Yes!”

Hinata didn’t expect that quick of a response, but didn’t think too hard about it because he’d been granted permission to kiss Oikawa. Again! For like the millionth time that day! Was it possible to get sick of kissing? Hinata had trouble imagining that.

But again, there were better things to worry about at that moment.

Hinata started to lean in when Natsu burst into their room.

“Mama wants you two downstairs!”

They sprang apart. Right after Oikawa had started to sit up and had smacked their foreheads together.

They groaned in pain and rubbed at their forehead mumbling about hard-headed assholes.

“We’ll be right down. Thanks, Natsu,” Hinata said.

“You two are acting weird… Why?” Natsu demanded. She had Mr. Fuwa-fuwa-san clutched in her arms.

“Because Shou-chan is an evil little imp who stole the heart of a grand king,” Oikawa said, grinning.

Hinata kicked him in the shins on his way to stand up. Oikawa clutched at his ankle.

“D-Don’t! Don’t say that stuff!”

“It’s the truth!”

“Still!”

Hinata sighed. “Let’s just… get this over with I guess.”

On his way out, Hinata ruffled Natsu’s hair. Oikawa did the same. They walked down the stairs and Oikawa tried to make a joke and Hinata tried to laugh at it but he didn’t think he sounded too convincing to his own ears.

His mother was waiting for them at the head of the kitchen table. She had tea and cookies set out. She had her glasses on and was reading an epidemiology book. She closed it when she heard their footsteps.

She looked up and smiled at them. “Have a seat,” she told them.

Hinata and Oikawa sat on either side of her and directly across from each other. She poured them all tea and slid the cups toward them.

She brought her own cup to her lips and took a sip. She put the cup down in its saucer.

“Now, is there anything you boys would like to tell me?” she asked, evenly.

“No!” Oikawa was a little too quick to respond.

“I see…” she said. She didn’t push the issue further. She returned to her book and made a note in the side margins.

Hinata met Oikawa’s eyes and was surprised by the steely gaze he found. Everything in Oikawa had become ramrod straight and unmoving. Hinata sent him a question through his eyes and all Oikawa did was shake his head.

Hinata didn’t understand. His mom was a little pushy sometimes but she wouldn’t actually do anything to them. Maybe Oikawa had misinterpreted his anxiety. He was only really dreading how awkward the Talk was going to be and not his mother’s reaction. She had seemed really excited about everything when she thought Hinata’s crush was one-sided. She’d just make up embarrassing rules about what they were allowed to do in the house and stuff…

The kind of stuff that his mother would forbid in the house immediately jumped to mind and Hinata couldn’t shake his blush for anything.

Oikawa took a cookie from the plate and began munching on it. Hinata did the same. No one said a word for what felt like hours.

Finally, Oikawa said, “Hana-san, thank you for the tea and cookies. May I be excused? I think there is some homework that I should be catching up on before I head back to class on Monday.”

“Of course, Tooru-kun. Thank you for sitting with me. And I did mean what I said earlier today. You are always welcome in my house.”

Oikawa put on a smile and said, “Thank you, Hana-san. Excuse me.”

Oikawa sent one last look at Hinata. It was completely guarded and he didn’t know what to make of it. And with that he left and went upstairs.

As soon as they heard the door to Hinata’s room close, Mama turned to him. “Shou-chan… did I read things wrong? Did things not go well?”

She looked worried, and guilty, and a million other things you never want to see your mom look like.

“I….” Hinata didn’t know what to say. Things had gone great. But then… why did Oikawa refuse to talk about it? Was he scared?

He felt a soft hand glide through his hair. “Shou-chan, I’m so sorry. I thought things had gone well for the two of you. I just wanted to lay some ground-rules. Did I scare him? Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“Mama, it’s okay. I… I think he might be scared… But…” Hinata tried to do that thing where you can word things delicately. Like say what you mean but in a way that doesn’t hurt anybody’s feelings. He was never good at that. He didn’t trust himself to say anything.

“Mama, I think I need to talk with Oikawa again. Just to make sure.”

She nodded. “Alright. Good luck, Shou-chan. If you need anything-”

“I know. Thanks, Mama.” As he got up from his chair, he planted a kiss on his mother’s cheek.

He bounded up the stairs. He opened the door to his room as Oikawa mumbled something about someone being mean. He was looking at his phone with a sour expression and tapping at the keys.

“That doesn’t look like homework,” Hinata said.

Oikawa scoffed. “I finished my homework the Friday before I came here. I don’t slack, unlike some people.”

Hinata sat down on the floor by Oikawa. He crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap. He waited until Oikawa was done typing on his phone.

“Oikawa-”

“If you’re going to make me say sorry for not outing myself in front of a woman I hardly know then please forget about it.”

Well, that kind of answered that question.

“I wasn’t going to ask that,” Hinata said.

Oikawa clicked his tongue like he was annoyed. He hadn’t looked up at Hinata since he came in the room. He was still staring at his phone.

“Then what were you going to ask, Shou-chan?”

“If you’re okay?”

Oikawa met his eyes. It wasn’t a warm gaze but it wasn’t cold either. It was almost as if Oikawa was sussing him out. Trying to find out if he was lying or not.

His eyes flitted back to his phone. “Of course, I’m okay,” he said, rather weakly.

“You…. don’t really seem like it…” Hinata said, hesitating.

Oikawa’s phone buzzed. He read the text. He sneered at it and typed something furiously. Then he put his phone down and threw his pillow on top of it.

He crossed his arms and turned his back on it, like it was an actual human being that would get upset and being given the cold shoulder.

He sat rigid like that for a good while. Not speaking. Not looking anywhere except the wall. His phone kept buzzing.

Hinata didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t good at picking up social cues. He wanted to help but how could he know what to do if Oikawa sat there and didn’t tell him what he needed to know to make this better?

He didn’t want to push it. But he also didn’t want to leave Oikawa alone with whatever it was that he was dealing with.

So the only choice was to sit silently in his room with Oikawa.

But he couldn’t do that either! Doing nothing was torture! Seeing Oikawa like this was torture! The thought of making Oikawa even more mad or sad by something thoughtless that he did was torture!

He decided to text Suga.

“What do i do? he’s mad and idk why?”

“Did you ask him what was wrong?” was Suga’s immediate response.

“Kind of…?”

“Ask him.”

“Oikawa-” he started to say out loud.

“Not right now, Shou-chan!”

That made Hinata jump. He didn’t expect Oikawa’s voice to be so harsh.

Hinata typed at his phone.

“HE SEEMS REALLY MAD! HE DOESN’T EVEN WANT TO TALK?”

Suga’s response this time seemed to take a little bit longer.

“Do you think he’s mad at you?”

“Um… I hope not… Idk what I could’ve done…?”

He’d literally just confessed to Oikawa and already they were having some kind of a fight? And it had to do with his mom maybe? And whoever he was talking to on the phone…

“Try getting his mind off of whatever it is. If he gets to be in a better mood then you can probably ask him about it. If he still refuses to talk or continues to put up a wall then I’d say leave him alone for a bit.”

Hinata nodded to himself. That sounded like a good plan.

“What are you doing?” Oikawa asked.

Hinata looked up from his phone to see Oikawa still sitting on the ground, still with his back toward the phone still covered with the pillow. He didn’t seem as mad as he was. He still had a sour look on his face but it was more curious than angry.

“Um… texting Suga-san?”

“Oh, what does he-”

Hinata gave him a look.

“What do they want?”

“I texted them. Because I wanted advice…”

“On what?”

“Um… how to… cheer people up…? Without getting them… angrier?”

That got a tiny smile out of him. Hinata felt proud.

“And what did they say? How would you cheer someone up?”

“Um…” Hinata looked around the room, trying to find something. He didn’t want to play cards again. His volleyball sat in the corner but Mama would have a fit if they played in the house. And even Hinata knew it was way too dark to go play outside. There was the TV downstairs, but Mama might be down there watching her serial medical dramas. Hinata still didn’t know if it was his mom that made him angry or something else.

There was the bed.

His mind helpfully supplied a large number of mental images that really shouldn’t have been dwelt on. Hinata tried to cover his face before the blush overtook it but it was too late.

Oikawa laughed. “I like how this Suga-san thinks!”

“Th-They didn’t say anything like that!”

“Oh? Then it was all your idea, Shou-chan?”

“N-No! I would never-! You are so-!”

He felt a soft pressure on his forehead. He immediately shut up and peeked through his fingers.

Oikawa had kissed him on the forehead.

“You’re so cute, Shou-chan.”

“YOU’RE CUTE!” Hinata had spit it out like a comeback. He wasn’t one to be outdone, after all.

Oikawa let out a delighted laugh. His cheeks tinged a bit pink. Hinata vowed to fight anyone who said that Oikawa wasn’t cute. Even if it would be himself… from the past… or something.

Oikawa rested their foreheads together. Hinata tried to calm his heart down but it just wouldn’t listen. Hinata couldn’t help a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad you’re not mad at me…” Hinata said, softly.

“Why on earth would I be mad at you?”

“I don’t know… I don’t really know how this… uh, relationship stuff goes… What if I did something that wasn’t okay?”

Oikawa’s eyes softened. His smile stretched wider. “Well, besides making me almost wait a week for your answer, I can’t think of anything you’ve done particularly wrong… Except you haven’t taken me out for that date yet.”

“My nose was broken today, you ass,” Hinata deadpanned.

Oikawa kissed the bandages on his nose, feather-light. “That’s true. You can take me out tomorrow then.”

“Mama probably wants me to stay home and rest, though…”

“Well, you can take me out while she’s at work, then.”

Hinata side-eyed Oikawa. “But that would be doing… exactly what she doesn’t want me to do…”

Oikawa seemed confused. “So? If you’re worried about being caught, then don’t worry because we won’t. It’ll be a secret between you and me.”

Hinata was shaking his head even before Oikawa finished his sentence. “No. No, she’s already not thrilled about the idea I’d be back at volleyball before my nose healed. And it’s pretty much only on the condition that I rest and stay at home until the doctor gives the okay.”

Oikawa pinched his lips together.

“Do you always do what your mom tells you to do?”

“Uh… yeah?”

Oikawa snorted. He was laughing. Like it was funny.

“Aw, Shou-chan’s a Mama’s boy, huh? That’s cute.”

“My mom’s pretty cool…” Hinata felt himself get angry. And he didn’t think he wanted another fight right now.

Oikawa blinked at him. Then he sighed. He was still smiling. “Am I making you angry?” It wasn’t a taunt, just a genuine question.

“My mom’s pretty cool,” Hinata insisted.

“Okay, you’re right. Your mom is pretty cool.”

Hinata nodded once. Oikawa should think his mom is cool. Because it’s true.

“It seems like…” then Oikawa paused. He didn’t seem too sure if he should continue. But he did. “It seems like she works really hard.”

“Yeah. She does.”

Hinata hadn’t meant to sound as far away as he felt. He wasn’t really aware of the room around them and was instead thinking of everything Mama had done to try to support them and encourage them.

Before he even realized he was talking, Hinata told Oikawa how Papa had left them when Natsu hadn’t even been born yet. He had left without a word and Hinata hadn’t seen him since then. Mama had told him by setting out a tray of cookies and fixing him a cup of tea that was half milk a quarter sugar and a quarter tea. He hadn’t really understood what was going on. His mother had been sort of vague about the details. He took it all in stride thinking he would be back some day.

He didn’t understand why Mama began to work longer hours at the doctor’s office. She used to get off around the time Hinata was done with school. She would pick him up and they’d drive around town. If he’d gotten a good grade on a quiz or something she’d take him to a small restaurant for burgers. Now Hinata would bike or walk home by himself. Or with his friends. But sometimes they had after school clubs. Hinata hadn’t been a part of any. He thought most sports were boring and he was never smart enough for the artsy clubs.

When Natsu was born he had kept asking when Papa would be here to see his new baby sister. The look of pain in his mother’s eyes was practically unbearable. But she explained as gently and as best she could that Papa was never coming back.

He hadn’t taken it well.

As soon as they got home, he started packing his bags and saying that he was going to find Papa and bring him back because he needed to see Natsu and how cute she was. Then maybe they could be a family again. Mama had hugged him tight and wouldn’t let go until Hinata went limp in her arms, unable to fight the tears back anymore.

When they had both calmed down enough, she explained a little bit more about the situation. Papa had met someone new, she said. Papa was happier with this new person. He didn’t know how to face his family with this so he just ran away. It was cowardly and unfair, but they couldn’t worry about that. There were things to be done.

She had asked Hinata for his help. She couldn’t take any extra time off of work than she already had. She would have to take more hours. She was counting on Hinata to take her to and from the nursery school.

At first, Hinata had hated it. Why did he have to all of this work? This was Mama’s job. Why couldn’t Papa come back and let Mama do her job? Both of them?

It had been around that time when he discovered volleyball. How amazing it was. How he could get lost in the resounding smack of his palm against the ball. How the ball flew at an incredible speed. The satisfying sound the ball made when it hit the ground on the other side of the net.

He wanted more.

His middle school didn’t have a team. He worked hard to try and build one. It didn’t necessarily work out.

By the end of his first year in middle school, he was tired and exhausted and his mother still expected him to help out around the house. He didn’t want to. Why did his friends get to go and do the things they loved to do while Hinata was more often than not stuck in the house feeding or changing his baby sister, while his mom was out doing work.

So he finally decided to confront her about it.

“Mama,” he’d said, “I want to play volleyball.”

“That’s a good sport,” she’d said, in the middle of making airplane noises for Natsu to eat her apple sauce.

“But, I want to play all the time! I want to have a team of my own! But there isn’t a team at my school! So… I don’t think I can help with Natsu anymore…”

His mother considered Hinata for a very long time after that.

“Shou-chan,” she said, gently, “it’s wonderful that you have the drive to make something great. But I really do need you to help with Natsu. At least until she’s old enough to stay in the house by herself.”

“I’ll be in college by then!” Hinata insisted.

“Shou-chan, I’m sorry. You can work on your volleyball club when I get done with work, but before then I really need you to help out with Natsu.”

She had turned away. Like the discussion was over. But Hinata hadn’t felt like letting it go just yet.

“Mama, why? Why do I have to do this?”

“You know very well why, Shou-chan.”

“It’s not fair! I’m a kid! I’m in middle school! I’m supposed to be able to join a club and have fun with my friends but I always have to come back and be a parent to Natsu! Why? Why can’t I be like the other kids? Why can’t I be like my friends? Why did Papa have to leave?! I don’t want this life! I want a normal family!”

Those words would echo through Hinata’s head for years to come. It was petty and selfish but he was so frustrated. He looked up at his mother.

“Shou-chan… I’m…”

His mother’s eyes were wet. Her hand covered her mouth. 

There are only a few things in this world that Hinata couldn’t handle. His mother’s tears were one of them.

“M-Mama… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“No, Shou-chan. You’re right. Of course, you are. You should be doing club activities. And having fun with your friends…” She sobbed.

Hinata was up from his chair in an instant. He held onto his mother as she cried. She patted his head and Hinata thought he didn’t really deserve it. What kind of son makes his mother cry?

“Mama, I’m sorry. I take it back. Please, don’t cry anymore.”

She soon stopped. She promised that she would try to cut back on her hours as much as she could so he could pursue volleyball more. Her smile was watery as she said that she needed more time to work on school work after all. Hinata hadn’t known what she was talking about until a few days later.

A letter from a local community college addressed to his mother thanked her for applying for their nursing program. They were glad to say that a spot in their program had opened up and she could start scheduling classes as soon as she was able.

That same day, someone from her work had called looking for her, demanding that she came in two hours earlier to her shift. Hinata informed them that she was at her other job and couldn’t come in. The man on the phone sighed in exasperation and Hinata didn’t know what came over him except he had to make this asshole understand how hard his mother worked already. There were probably tears. Hinata didn’t really remember that moment anymore.

The next thing he did remember about that day was his mother coming home and flopping down on the chair. She was carrying some heavy looking boxes but she looked pleased. She opened them up one by one and showed both Hinata and little Natsu.

They were all textbooks.

“Mama’s going back to school,” she said.

Cut to a few months later and she brought home her first test. She’d aced it of course. Hinata took it and hung it up on the refrigerator after she had gone to bed, just like she had done to any and all of his tests that he’d done well on.

“Now, Mama’s an RN. She still works crazy hours but she gets days off. I get to play volleyball more. Natsu’s old enough for daycare and sometimes when Mama has the money she hires a part-time nanny. So… it worked out…” Hinata ended his story with a shaky smile.

Oikawa hadn’t once interrupted him. He hadn’t made some kind of weird wisecrack or anything like that. He’d only nodded when appropriate.

When Hinata was done, Oikawa reached out his hand and ruffled Hinata’s hair.

“Your mom’s pretty cool, huh?”

Hinata nodded. “That’s what I’ve been saying!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the oihina makeouts and some Hinamama feels!!  
> If you guys are so inclined you can follow me over on tumblr. My handle is ibitanididnothingwrong. Feel free to pressure me into more updates! :D  
> Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed and have a lovely day!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa's got some family stuff going on. Hinata still doesn't know how a relationship works. Not really. Natsu's a badass baby sister. Takeru is there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peeks out from under a rock*  
> *slips an update out*  
> *looks around*  
> *goes back under the rock*  
> *you see a note with messy scrawling handwriting attached to the update.  
> it reads: To my dear readers, long has it been since last we spoke... Long has it been since ye olde last update! Wilst thou ever forgive a poor sinner like myself? Trapped under the weight of the mundane toil of graduate school? Trapped in a place with no light, no laughter, no internet sometimes, in order to work for no money? In fact negative money? Like I gotta pay these assholes to work like are you serious, bruh? But I digress... dear reader... please forgive my transgressions. Take this update. Read it.... Read it and think of me. Remember me as I was.... and not how I am... Promise me, dear reader. Promise me....*  
> *you look down back at the rock*  
> *a hand reaches out from under the rock*  
> *it gives you a thumbs up*

After talking with Oikawa a bit more, Hinata felt better. Not that he was feeling particularly bad before, he just felt better. Lighter. He hadn’t told that story in a long long time. He was glad that Oikawa had listened and now fully understood why his mom was really cool.

“Well, since your mom is so cool, I guess we can’t go on our date tomorrow after all,” Oikawa had said.

“Or…” Hinata said, “we could always… have a date… here?”

Oikawa chuckled. “Shou-chan, I know you haven’t done this whole dating thing yet, so I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Normally, dating is supposed to be at a special place. A place where you don’t normally go. That way it’s special.”

Hinata scratched his chin. “Well… I don’t go up in the attic much…”

Oikawa’s face turned pale. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Who knows what kind of stuff could be up there? What if we found something cool? Like treasure or something! Or a dead body!” Hinata exclaimed.

Oikawa started to shake. “Shou-chan! Absolutely not! We are not having our first date in your attic and we are most definitely NOT going to have our first date finding a BODY in your attic! And that’s final!”

Hinata snickered. “You sound like my mom.”

“Well, your mom’s pretty cool so…”

“Come ooonnnnnn! Oikawa, it’ll be so much fun! I know for sure that we have old photo albums and stuff up there! There might be really awesome old timey photos up there or something! Mama said that when Popop was younger he looked like me! What if we found a picture of Popop but who looked exactly liked me but in old timey clothes? Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

“But… there could be…” Oikawa trailed off. His hands were still shaking.

Hinata took one and looked Oikawa right in the eye. “It’s okay if you're scared of ghosts, Oikawa. I am, too. But I know for sure there aren’t any up there. And plus even if there are ghosts up there, I’ll protect you from them!”

The color began coming back to Oikawa’s cheeks. And then some.

“W-Well… okay… I guess. But if something freaky happens then I am out of here!”

“Okay! I would also be out of here too, probably,” Hinata said, laughing.

Oikawa smiled. “I guess we make quite the pair, huh?”

“Yep!”

Hinata didn’t know who instigated it first but suddenly there was another round of kissing to go around. Hinata found that he liked it when Oikawa grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. Normally, he didn’t think he’d appreciate being tossed and pulled around like a ragdoll but if it was for something as awesome and fwoosh-feeling as this, then Hinata supposed he could make an exception.

Before things got too heated though, there was a knock at the door. Mama poked her head in and decided to not even bother hiding her smile as she watched the two of them spring apart.

“Time for bed, you two,” she said.

“Okay, Mama,” Hinata said.

“And no more of this…. aggressive rough-housing. A little bit is okay. But if I catch the both of you getting too rough then I’m afraid Tooru-kun might have to sleep downstairs for the remainder of his time here.”

Hinata chanced a glance at Oikawa and he snorted so loud and suddenly he practically choked. Oikawa’s face was beet-red. His face was frozen into a grotesque mask of disbelief and shame except for his right eyebrow and the bottom lid of his right eye which spasmed every so often.

“O-Okay, Mama,” Hinata said. He was embarrassed too, but apparently not to the degree that Oikawa was. He didn’t say a thing as Mama waved at them and closed the door.

“Told you she knew,” Hinata said after a while.

“And… she’s fine with it?” Oikawa whispered. Hinata wasn’t sure if that question was directed at him or not. Oikawa sounded so far away.

“Um, yeah. I also told you that too. Right? Or did I not?”

Oikawa shook his head. “No, I mean I just-” He cut himself off. He scratched the back of his head. Silence stretched between them once again.

Hinata eventually shuffled closer to Oikawa and hesitantly took his hand. Oikawa jostled out of whatever he’d been thinking about and looked at him, startled.

“Um, you okay?” Hinata asked.

Oikawa just nodded. “Yeah, never better.”

“You don’t seem like it?”

Oikawa sighed. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Hinata’s forehead. He felt like all of the blood in his body was suddenly rushing to his face. He felt his heart hammer against his chest. Oikawa was smiling which really wasn’t helping matters.

“I’m fine, Shou-chan, I promise. Just a little tired. Today certainly was a day, though, wasn’t it? A roller coaster of emotions, if you will.”

“Y-Yeah, sure was.” Hinata touched his free hand to his forehead.

Oikawa made a frustrated grunt. “Shou-chan, if you don’t stop acting so cute, there’ll be a lot more than aggressive roughhousing going on.”

Hinata snatched his hand away. “Y-Yeah? W-Well, maybe if you weren’t such a space case, I wouldn’t have had to act all cute!”

Oikawa didn’t even dignify that with a response and only leaned in and planted another kiss on Hinata’s forehead.

“If that’s why you act so cute maybe I should space out more often.”

Hinata mumbled a few choice words under his breath before standing up and getting ready for bed. Oikawa did the same. Once the both of them had brushed their teeth and crawled under their respective covers, they began to chat. They talked about volleyball, about movies, mostly about volleyball, and now that the ever present elephant in the room as to why Hinata’s mother was around but not his father, Hinata felt like he could talk about his family more. Oikawa seemed to enjoy all the stories that Hinata had to tell him and would have similar stories to tell about someone called Iwa-chan. But it wouldn’t be until later, when the two of them were drifting off to sleep that Hinata realized, Oikawa hardly ever talked about his family.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The next morning, Hinata awoke to the smell of something cinnamony and sweet. There was also the smell of coffee in the air.

Hinata slowly got up and as he made his way downstairs, he could hear Oikawa and Natsu amicably talking in the kitchen. Hinata smiled as he rounded the corner into the kitchen to see Natsu wearing her little pink apron and stirring a bowl that she could probably fit comfortably in had she been curled up in a ball. 

Oikawa was spooning some kind of batter into a waffle-maker.

“I didn’t even know we still had that,” Hinata said.

Oikawa looked up and grinned at him. “Natsu and I found it the other day while we were pretending to be pirates looking for buried treasure. And what’s more valuable than a golden crispy waffle in the morning? Am I right, Captain Natsu?”

“ARRRRGGG! HE BE RIGHT!” Natsu answered dutifully in her best pirate voice. She waved her whisk in the air like it was a sword which Hinata had to take before too much batter flew and stuck on the walls. He didn’t have it for too long however before Natsu started pouting and asking for it back as nice as you please. Hinata only gave it back when she promised that she would be more careful with it.

He was caught by surprise when an arm snaked around his waist and pulled him back into a familiar chest. Oikawa rested his head on top of Hinata’s and said, “While Captain Natsu has her treasure, I have mine right here~” He kissed the top of his head and Hinata felt his face go red.

“Y-You are so embarrassing…” Hinata said, trying to cover his face.

Oikawa just laughed. “Aye,” he said, in a surprisingly convincing pirate voice, “but that be one of me chARRRm points.”

Oikawa was able to get one more kiss in before Hinata slammed his heel into Oikawa’s toes.

“You are so lame, I swear to God!” Hinata shrieked.

“But you’re smiling,” Oikawa said, grimacing in pain and laughing at the same time.

“I know! And I’m lame for thinking it’s funny!”

Oikawa laughed again.

Hinata helped his sister and his… b-boy…?

“Hey, Oikawa?”

“Yes, Shou-chan?”

“Are we… um…? Are we…. b-boyfriends?”

Hinata glanced at Oikawa and found that he was also turning red.

“I… I mean, yes… i-if you’re okay…. with that…”

“Yeah, I’m okay with that.”

“G-good.”

So, Hinata helped his sister and his… boyfriend make the rest of the waffles. Hinata wasn’t exactly sure who Oikawa thought he was cooking for. From the looks of it, it seemed like he was trying to cook for an entire army. Not to mention that Natsu still hadn’t finished mixing together her gigantic bowl of batter.

Once they did start on Natsu’s bowl, however, none of them could wait for that particular batch to be done. So they grabbed as many waffles as they could fit on a plate and sat at the table. They all slathered their waffles in syrup and butter and Oikawa wanted to put jam on his but Hinata refused to tell him where it was.

“I won’t let you ruin a perfectly good waffle by putting jam AND syrup on it. Not in my house!” Hinata said, brandishing his fork at Oikawa.

“Not in my house!” Natsu echoed.

Oikawa rolled his eyes. “You put chocolate and peanut butter on popcorn. Don’t tell me what to do with my breakfast!”

“Chocolate and peanut butter go perfectly on popcorn! Jam only goes on toast! And that’s it!” Hinata exclaimed.

Eventually, Oikawa huffed and retook his seat next to Hinata and sighed and hummed into his waffles, for all the world looking like his lot in life was the most depressing. Hinata eventually got sick of it and told Oikawa the jam was in the far cupboard on the left. He received a kiss on the cheek for his troubles, and Hinata couldn’t find himself too mad about the desecration of waffles that he was about to witness. They all talked amicably during breakfast, even though Oikawa had his phone out and was scowling down at it every so often. When Hinata would ask who it was from, Oikawa would wave off the question and only say, "It's my brother and he's being a real dickwad." Hinata would slap his shoulder and tell him not to curse in front of his baby sister.

After Hinata got Oikawa to cut it out, he began to wonder about Oikawa's brother. He hadn't even realized that he had a brother.

"What's your brother like?" Hinata asked.

Oikawa shrugged. "A big di-... dirty poopybrain..."

Natsu giggled.

"Why?"

Oikawa just shrugged again. "Just never really got along with him, I guess. He's a good fifteen years older than me. Has a wife, has a job, has a kid. Never was really interested in hanging out with his kid brother..."

"What's he saying now? That's making him.... a dirty poopybrain?"

"Wants me to babysit this afternoon. Can't obviously."

"Why?"

Oikawa stared at him. "Because, someone's taking me on a date today~"

After they finished cooking waffles and could not physically eat another bite, they cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes.

While Oikawa took care of the last of the dishes in the kitchen, Hinata took Natsu into the living room and asked if she was okay if they set her up with a movie for a few hours. Natsu peered at him. “Aren’t you going to watch it with me?” she asked.

“Uh… well, no. Oikawa and I wanted to go up to the attic and explore up there…”

“Oh…” Natsu said. She bit her lip and hugged Mr. Fuwa-fuwa-san tighter. “I-I want to go…”

“No, you don’t, Natsu. You’re scared of the attic. And that’s okay. You don’t have to come with us. Here why don’t we set you up with Godzilla.”

Natsu bowed her head, plopped down right on her behind and started to cry.

“Natsu!” Hinata exclaimed.

“Natsu-chan!” Oikawa came rushing in. His hands were still sudsy from the soap and he had a dishcloth draped across his shoulder. He looked at Hinata. “What happened?”

“I was going to set her up with a movie while we went to the attic and then she started to cry.”

“Aww,” Oikawa cooed. He knelt down by Natsu and asked in a gentle voice, “Did you want to come with us?”

Natsu nodded, then stilled, then shook her head, then stilled, then shrugged. All the while still crying.

Oikawa looked to Hinata for some kind of translation.

“I think she’s scared of the attic, doesn’t want to go but doesn’t want to be left alone…?” Hinata tried.

Natsu shook her head vehemently.

“Are you scared of the attic?” Oikawa asked.

Natsu just clutched Mr. Fuwa-fuwa-san tighter and didn’t do or say anything.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Do you not want to be left alone?”

Natsu shrugged.

Oikawa took the dishcloth off of his shoulder and began drying his hands. He looked back up at Hinata. “Guess our date is canceled.”

Hinata huffed a laugh. “Wasn’t much of a date anyway.”

That only seemed to make Natsu cry louder.

“Natsu, what’s wrong now?”

Natsu just continued to shake her head and cry.

“I just! I don’t want to be alone! But I hate the attic! And now there’s no date!”

“What?” Oikawa asked. He seemed a little bit exasperated and worried.

Hinata sat down on the ground and gathered Natsu up in his arms. He rocked her and pat her head. Hinata hushed her and told her that things were going to be fine until Natsu calmed down enough to explain herself better.

“There’s not going to be a date now because I’m not brave…” Natsu said in a small voice.

Oikawa sat down beside them and looked at Hinata questioningly.

“Natsu is afraid to be alone and afraid of the attic. She thinks she’s holding us back from a date because she thinks we have to stick around with her… Is that it, Natsu?”

Natsu nodded her head.

Hinata sighed and said, “Natsu, it’s really okay. We couldn’t really enjoy our date anyway if we knew you were unhappy. Right, Oikawa?”

“Of course, Natsu-chan. You are more important than a silly date anyway.” Oikawa reached out and pat Natsu on the head too.

Natsu’s tears subsided but she still didn’t look happy.

“But you should still go on the date…” she mumbled.

Hinata knew that he couldn’t leave Natsu alone. She was scared and she hated being alone. But at that moment it seemed like she hated the idea of holding two people she cared about back because she thought she wasn’t strong enough. Which was absurd! She was three years-old turning four soon and she was one of the strongest people Hinata had ever met. He sometimes felt like he was talking to a middle-schooler instead of a three year-old.

He looked up at Oikawa for help but he was typing something on his phone.

Hinata needed something to throw.

He reached out and found Mr. Fuwa-Fuwa-san and chucked it at Oikawa’s face. It caught him right between the eyes and his head snapped back.

“WHAT!?” 

“Can you NOT on your phone right now?” Hinata asked.

“Hold on! I have an idea!” Oikawa said.

No matter how much Hinata pestered Oikawa, he refused to give him any kind of an answer. With all of their bickering, Natsu started crying again. Hinata resisted the urge to throw something else at Oikawa.

They did stop bickering, however, and they turned the TV on to Natsu’s favorite channel. By the time there was a knock at the door, Hinata was able to get Natsu to sing the theme song of one of the shows with him.

“Who’s that?” Hinata asked.

He let Oikawa answer the door since he was currently occupied with a lapful of Natsu.

“Uncle Tooru, is this your new house?” a small voice asked.

“No, but one day I’ll move in and start a very new family of my own!” Oikawa said, smiling.

The small voice was attached to an equally small person. He looked a little older than Natsu and even resembled Oikawa in a lot of ways.

After Oikawa shut the door behind this new tiny person, he led them to the living room.

“This is Takeru,” he said, presenting the small boy to Hinata and Natsu. “He’s my nephew. I look after him from time to time. I thought that he and Natsu could have a play-date while Hinata and I have... our own play-date.”

Hinata just blinked up at Oikawa.

Then he glanced at Takeru who was looking curiously at Natsu. Natsu was also staring curiously at Takeru.

Takeru took off his backpack and opened it. He rummaged around in it until he brought out two robot action figures.

He offered one to Natsu. “Do you like robots?” Takeru asked.

Natsu took the offered toy and considered it. “Only if they have laser eyes,” Natsu said.

Takeru nodded in agreement. “Those kinds of robots are the best. And-and I like the ones with the wheels on their feet. Almost like roller skates but like cooler because they’re actually attached to their feet.”

Natsu agreed.

The two of them settled on the ground playing with Takeru’s robot toys. But soon enough Natsu was off to get her princess dolls and her Godzilla doll that was almost as big as she was. Takeru gaped at it.

“So cool,” he breathed. “Can I touch it?”

Natsu nodded and Takeru gingerly took it.

“I… am a god today,” he whispered.

Hinata forgot to stifle his laugh.

The kids seemed to be getting along just fine. They stayed and watched them play for a bit. Eventually Takeru got tired of playing as Godzilla and instead opted for a doll named Tiffany who couldn’t get her nails done because Godzilla destroyed her favorite nail spa. Natsu swooped in as her robot boyfriend and they rebuilt the nail spa together. It was about the time that Godzilla came back and apologized for destroying the nail spa when Hinata felt Oikawa tug at his sleeve.

They quietly slipped away from the two. Hinata didn’t want to go all the way up in the attic any more. He told Oikawa that it was because if they were up in the attic they wouldn’t be able to hear if anything happened to the kids. Oikawa would have teased him that he was just afraid of the attic if he himself was not also afraid of the attic.

They decided to go upstairs to Hinata’s room. With the door open. So they could hear if anything big happened.

“So, uh… here we are…” Hinata started.

Oikawa grinned at him. “Yes. Here we are. The room I’ve been spending the last week in.”

Hinata looked at his feet. “S-sorry we couldn’t go on a real date…”

He felt a warm hand on his head.

“It’s okay, Shou-chan. I like your house. And I... wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize your and your mother's relationship...”

Oikawa said it with this strange conviction that Hinata didn’t remember hearing outside of the volleyball court.

“What do you mean?” Hinata asked.

Oikawa sighed. “Just that… nothing. Forget I said anything.”

“Okay…”

A question burned on Hinata’s tongue. He didn’t know if he should ask. He had wanted to ask last night but didn’t know the best way to bring it up. To make it sound casual even though Hinata was anxiously biting his nails about it.

“Can you… tell me about your family? A little bit more?” Hinata asked.

“Well, you met Takeru. He’s cute but he likes to get into my stuff sometimes. One time he used my entire bottle of hair gel. I asked him what he used it for since he kind of doesn’t have hair. All I got was a swift kick to the knee in response.”

Hinata snorted at the image. But quickly backtracked. “That’s not exactly what I wanted to know about…”

Oikawa’s body language got ridged. “Oh.”

A silence hung in the air for Hinata didn’t know how long.

“You want to know about more about my brother? And my parents, I guess?” Oikawa asked stiffly.

“Um… yeah… only if you want to talk about it though.”

Oikawa huffed. “Shou-chan, I don’t want to intentionally hide things from you. I just… I don’t know if I want to talk to you about it yet…”

Just then Oikawa’s phone buzzed.

He whipped it out, scanned the screen and muttered, “Speak of the devil.”

He typed something out on his phone quick and placed it back down.

“As I was saying --”

It buzzed again.

Oikawa ignored it. Or pretended to.

He continued to speak while he took Hinata’s hand and squeezed. It didn’t hurt but it was a lot harder than the gentle squeezes Oikawa used on his hand sometimes.

Hinata wasn’t really listening to what Oikawa said.

The phone buzzed again.

Oikawa groaned and took up his phone again. He scanned it, eyebrows furrowed. Meanwhile his hold on Hinata’s hand tightened. Now it was painful.

“Ow, Oikawa…” Hinata mumbled.

Oikawa glanced up at him. Then down at their hands. He pulled away from him. “Shou-chan, I’m sorry… I...”

“It’s okay… Um, should I leave? While you…”

Oikawa’s stare became blank. “Yeah… they, uh. They want me to call them. It’ll take a sec.”

“Okay. I’ll go check on Natsu and Takeru.”

Oikawa nodded as Hinata got up.

He went downstairs thinking that maybe bringing up family wasn’t the best subjects for dates.

Natsu and Takeru had moved on to a different game. It involved who could think of the most outrageous hairstyles for the dolls that Natsu had brought out.

When Natsu heard Hinata come downstairs, she looked up and ran toward him. She held her doll out with pride and said, “Look! Jessica’s hair is a mess.”

And a mess it was. The ends of Jessica’s hair was frayed and about five big ponytails jutted out from her head. There was also one long braid that fell across her shoulders.

“Oh, Natsu,” Hinata said, “when did you learn to braid?”

“Oh, I asked Taru-kun to help me. He’s real good at it.”

Hinata glanced up at the boy who was occupied in making his own doll’s hair fantastically horrendous. But he did catch the tip of the boy’s ears turn red at the praise. Or maybe it was the nickname.

Hinata sat down with the kids and was given the boy doll to see if he could do anything with his hair. Unfortunately it was much to short to do much of anything besides put a few clips in it.

“We should show Uncle Tooru,” Takeru said, once they were finished.

Hinata wanted to say that they should probably wait when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Hinata looked up and saw that Oikawa’s brow was furrowed and his face was red. When Oikawa caught him staring, Oikawa put on a smile for him but Hinata didn’t buy it for a second.

“So, what are we doing now?” Oikawa asked cheerfully.

“We’re giving dolls horrible hairdos,” Natsu said, showing Oikawa her doll.

“Oh, sounds like fun.”

Hinata and Oikawa sat and played with the kids for a decent amount of time. The time for lunch had come and passed and it was only after they all heard Takeru’s stomach growl that they realized how late it was.

Oikawa and Hinata were both still pretty full from their big breakfast but Natsu said that she was hungry again. So they all went into the kitchen to see if they could scrounge up some lunch for all of them. Hinata found some lunch meat and cheese in the fridge so sandwiches it was.

Hinata tried to catch Oikawa’s eyes while they were making sandwiches but he wouldn’t look at him. He even tried to hip-check Oikawa in an attempt to start flirty banter but Oikawa only gave him a fake-ass smile and continued on with his tasks of slicing the crust off of the bread.

He was like that for the remainder of the time that Takeru was with them. And Hinata couldn’t help but feel just the teeniest on edge about it. He certainly hadn’t shown any hesitation around Natsu. So it wasn’t the fact that there were little kids around.

Was it something about the phone call?

Hinata decided to ask Oikawa after the two could get a moment alone. He suddenly felt very frustrated because who knew dating could be this difficult! And they hadn’t even gone on an official date yet! It wasn’t twenty-four hours since their first real kiss and there was already fucking drama?!

After lunch, everyone crowded around the TV. Natsu picked a godzilla movie to watch this time which Takeru was super into. During the movie, Hinata was frustrated (to say the least) that Oikawa didn’t even sit next to him. He sat on the floor next to Takeru. Natsu sat happily in Hinata’s lap as Godzilla destroyed another populated Japanese metropolitan city while Hinata simmered with anxious thoughts.

It was getting close to early evening and when Hinata’s mother would be home when there was a knock at the door.

“That’s probably Dad,” Takeru announced.

Hinata made a move to get up but was stopped when Oikawa held up a hand for him to wait.

“I’ll get it. No use disturbing Natsu,” he said.

Hinata couldn’t read a damn thing on his face. But he nodded and settled back down.

Natsu, however, jumped off of Hinata’s lap and strode over to Takeru.

“You should come by again,” she said.

Takeru nodded. “I had fun. Thank you for letting me play.”

They bowed to each other like little adults and Hinata couldn’t repress a smile. He glanced up at Oikawa and felt a small weight of something sink into his belly. Oikawa didn’t even seem to be watching them. His eyes were trained on Takeru but it didn’t look like anything was sinking in.

After Takeru and Natsu were done exchanging their pleasantries, Oikawa walked his nephew to the door.

With no Natsu on his lap to keep him anchored to the couch, Hinata got up and curiously peeked from behind the corner so he could see who was at the door.

A man in a business suit who looked similar to Oikawa was at the door. He greeted Takeru warmly but glanced at Oikawa with a cool indifference.

“Thank you for watching Takeru for the afternoon,” said the man.

“Of course,” Oikawa said with an easy air. “Anything for my Oniichan~”

The man heaved a sigh. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”

Oikawa shrugged and bent down low to be face-to-face with Takeru. “Bye-bye, Takeru. Give your dad a hard time on the way home for me.”

Takeru looked up at his father and then back at Oikawa. “No?” he said.

Oikawa shrugged. “Well, worth a shot.”

“Takeru, why don’t you wait in the car? There’s something I’d like to talk to your Uncle Tooru about.”

Takeru again looked between his father and his uncle. Apparently, he came to some conclusion and decided to do what his father asked of him.

“Tooru, what are you doing?” the man asked.

“Babysitting for you?” Oikawa replied.

“You know what I mean.”

“No, Oniichan, I really don’t.”

The man sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.

“Why didn’t you go with Mom and Dad instead?”

“And be trapped on a boat with them for a week in the middle of the ocean? Doesn’t sound like the best of times.”

“They just want to spend time with you.”

At that sentence, Oikawa’s shoulders slumped. Hinata immediately got the feeling he shouldn’t be eavesdropping on this conversation. He slinked back to the living room. He plopped down on the couch, and Natsu realizing that her favorite seat was back, crawled up and sat comfortably on his lap again.

Hinata could still hear the voices in the hallway and didn’t know if he wanted to hear the rest of the conversation or not.

He jumped when he heard the door slam. Natsu even glanced up.

Oikawa stormed into the room and sat on the couch next to Hinata and Natsu. He still didn’t look at Hinata.

“O-Oikawa?” Hinata asked.

Oikawa took an unsteady breath in and then buried his face in his hands. His shoulders were shaking.

Fuck.

“Oikawa? Are you okay?” Hinata reached out a hand.

“Fine,” Oikawa rasped out.

Fuck!

Natsu crawled out from Hinata’s lap and into Oikawa’s. She gently patted Oikawa’s hands that were still firmly covering Oikawa’s face.

“There there, Tooru-niichan,” she said in the most comforting voice a three-year-old could muster.

Oikawa hugged her then. He plum spring-trapped shut around her.

Hinata felt helpless. “What do I do?” he heard himself ask.

Oikawa didn’t seem to hear him or understand what he said.

Hinata reached out a hand and rested it on Oikawa’s shoulder. Oikawa slowly looked up at him. His eyes were tired and red. His nose was running. Oh God, there were tears!

“Oikawa…. What…?” Hinata started but he couldn’t finish because too many questions came rushing into his head at once. What happened? What’s wrong? What do you need? What can I do? What do I do?

“Shou-chan…” Oikawa said, his voice cracked. “I’m sorry…”

“For what?” Hinata asked, bordering on hysteria.

Oikawa wiped at his eyes with the heel of his hands attempting a small smile. It wasn’t a fake smile which baffled Hinata to no end.

“I’m not being such a cool boyfriend right now,” Oikawa said. He offered a small laugh and Hinata didn’t know what to do.

Hinata sighed. “You think I care about how cool you are?”

“Maybe…”

Hinata scoffed. “If I cared about that I’d be done dating you after you made a pirate pun this morning.”

Oikawa snorted out a laugh. He wiped at his other eye.

Natsu nodded. “Tooru-niichan is pretty cool anyway.”

Oikawa hugged Natsu tighter and Hinata thought his heart might physically break in two.

Hinata slipped his arm around Oikawa’s shoulders and pressed his chest as close as he could to Oikawa’s side. Hinata rested his forehead against Oikawa’s cheek since he wasn’t tall enough for his head.

“What can I do, Oikawa?” Hinata asked, his voice hardly coming out.

Oikawa gave him a gut-wrenching smile. “You’re doing all you can already, Shou-chan.”

Hinata disagreed. He thought he could probably do more. Like kiss him.

The thought made his heart beat faster but he also felt a bit guilty. Was this really the time to be thinking about kisses? Obviously something more important was happening. Hinata tried to think of everything he knew about dating in order to come to some kind of conclusion but sadly all he could think about was cheesy romance movies and manga. Everything was almost always solved with a kiss in those things, right?

As he was getting deeper and deeper into his own thoughts, he missed the look of worry that Oikawa was giving him.

“Sh-Shou-chan, are you okay?”

“No!”

“Oh… I’m… sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into my family drama… I knew it was going to be too much for you-”

“No, I mean…” Hinata hesitated. Why the heck were words so hard? He grunted in frustrated and ground his head into Oikawa’s shoulder. Work, brain! “I meant, ‘No! That’s not the question you should be asking…’”

“What question should I be asking then?”

“N-No! I meant… I should be asking you that question. I need to be here for you. But! I’m making you worry. And you shouldn’t be worried about me! Not right now! And plus my only trouble right now is deciding whether or not I should kiss you and-”

Oikawa’s surprised laugh interrupted him.

Hinata glanced up at Oikawa. He was still rubbing tears out of his eyes but he was laughing. What a strange guy.

“What’s so funny?” Hinata pouted.

“Nothing! You’re just… so cute,” was his answer.

When Oikawa calmed down enough, he freed one of his arms from grasping little Natsu, and gently cupped Hinata’s cheek.

“If you’re ever wondering again, ‘Should I be kissing Oikawa-san?’ the answer is ‘Yes. Yes, you should be.’”

“When have I ever called you ‘Oikawa-san?’”

“When we first met, I believe. You were so cute and formal. I wonder what happened.”

Hinata scoffed. “I don’t remember that.”

Oikawa just let out a shaky laugh. Hinata leaned in and kissed him. He heard a tiny gasp from Natsu and thought for a second that he might need to be a little bit more concerned with how he is kissing another man in front of his baby sister. Would this scar her for life? Is he a bad big brother?

But then Oikawa started kissing back and Hinata reasoned that it wouldn’t be too traumatizing for her.

They pulled apart only when they heard a gagging sound from Natsu.

“Adults are gross,” she decided.

Hinata nodded. “You’re right. Absolutely disgusting.”

Oikawa scoffed, “Speak for yourself.” Hinata’s heart hurt less at the sound of Oikawa’s voice going back to normal.

“I’m leaving,” Natsu announced calmly. She hopped off of Oikawa’s lap and sat on the floor and played with her dolls.

Hinata had a moment of panic as he thought about the very real possibility that he just traumatized his baby sister for life when Oikawa pulled him into a warm embrace.

“Thank you,” Oikawa said, burying his head in Hinata’s shoulder.

“For… For what exactly?” Hinata brought his arms up and hugged Oikawa back.

Oikawa shrugged.

“What happened?” Hinata asked.

Oikawa gave a wry chuckle. “He asks a loaded question,” Oikawa mumbled, presumably to himself. “That, my dear Shou-chan, is not just one incident but 18 years worth of family baggage that I can’t unpack in one sitting… and I don’t really want to either.”

“Okay… um, but if you do… you can… with me…” Hinata was glad Oikawa couldn’t see his face. He knew he was blushing way too hard.

Oikawa squeezed him harder. “Thank you,” Oikawa whispered.

Hinata’s heart clenched. “Yeah," he said, for lack of anything else to say. "Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SSSSSsssoooooooo..... um, yep. Here we are. An update.... yay...? You know.... because.... yay reading about.... about... dorks... um... in love... and where..... nothing bad happens ever....... because.................... that's what we all want.......... right? *sobs*
> 
> I know it got pretty angsty at the end there. But! There will still be fluff... and a happy ending.... and I went ahead and added some more tags to let you know what else I have planned for the upcoming chapters.... If it's not your cup of tea and you'd rather not read the story anymore! Dude, I feel you. Same, tbh. But I'm gonna keep pushing onward and upward with the story. And thank you everyone who left comments and kudos and all that good stuff. I always love reading the comments whenever I get the chance! I honestly probably would not have updated without all of ya'll's support! And again, I can't promise when I can update again, I have written a little bit of the next update so! Hopefully it won't take... you know.... 10 months...? But thank you again to everyone! I hope you still enjoyed the chapter! and I will see you on the other side!!!


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